Children’s and youth literature in new China
The author describes the difficult beginnings of publishing in new China, a country devastated in large part by the Japanese occupation and civil war. Publishing houses of all types were then scattered over a huge territory and very few. This was particularly the case for publishing children’s and youth literature. Despite this difficult situation, as early as the end of 1950, the first specialized publishing house for children and youth audiences was established in Shanghai. The author shows the difficult further way of building a large publishing movement and institutions cooperating with it, which specialized in work for children and youth audiences. It indicates the role of the publishing movement in expanding the education of children and young people in China. It signals the collapse of an excellent business in the gloomy period of the cultural revolution, and then shows a gradual rebirth, and then, again, the dynamic development of the industry in the early 1980s in connection with the implementation of the “reform and opening up” policy. An important stage in this dynamic development was the formation of a new media group aimed at children and youth audiences in 2000 – the Chinese youth and children’s information and publishing cooperative. This has led to the creation of similar media groups throughout China. Over 70 years of operation, new China has made tremendous progress in the field of children’s and youth literature and publishing. Interestingly, this process, especially in the initial period, was carried out in cooperation with its counterpart in Poland. Many Polish books for young Chinese readers have appeared on the Chinese market and this phenomenon continues to be beneficial for both sides.
Rynek wydawniczy literatury dziecięcej i młodzieżowej w nowych Chinach
