In China Daily Yang Guang reports on Chinese books' Journey to the West, finding that: 'The country's publishing industry is starting to see returns from its near 10-year going global campaign'.
Another article by Yang Guang that covers some of the same ground finds Foreign publishing companies consolidate China operations -- and includes the priceless quote and 'explanation' from Lu Kai, general manager of McGraw-Hill Education China:
Mind you, no one ever went wrong underestimating audiences -- still, this sort of patronizing attitude will only get you so far (and might help explain why Chinese literary fare abroad has not fared all that well).
Another article by Yang Guang that covers some of the same ground finds Foreign publishing companies consolidate China operations -- and includes the priceless quote and 'explanation' from Lu Kai, general manager of McGraw-Hill Education China:
Lu explains that the Chinese mindset is inclined to deduction and could therefore easily accept abstract concepts, while Western readers are more used to inductive thinking and understanding concepts through analysis and examples.Yes, he really is saying 'overseas' readers are kind of ... simple-minded, and need everything spelled out for them because they're too stupid to comprehend "abstract concepts".
"This is why special attention should be paid to explaining profound theories in simple terms and through examples, when we try to introduce overseas readers to the Chinese contents they are unfamiliar with," he says.
Mind you, no one ever went wrong underestimating audiences -- still, this sort of patronizing attitude will only get you so far (and might help explain why Chinese literary fare abroad has not fared all that well).