The Power of Storytelling: The Creative Encounter
Singing Grass CEO Alicia Liu hosted the first international webinar on “The Power of Storytelling", as part of the Beijing International Book Fair Insights Masterclass online series, which will be broadcast in September to publishing professionals in China.
The speakers were three major industry professionals who know China well: Jan Ziff and Allan Davidson of The Heckerty Company and Andrew Sharp of Sharp Rights Publishing Consultancy,
Jan and Allan partnered with Chinese tech company Xiaomi to launch an English Learning video book series in early 2020, while Andrew has been at the forefront of many changes in children's publishing in the past 25 years.
This is the first of two snapshots of the Masterclass.
The speakers started by setting the context: the stories we grow up listening to often have a lasting effect on how we view the world. For many young readers, no matter where they come from, this childhood experience begins with the line "Once upon a time”.
Storytelling, and in particular oral storytelling, has been present in every culture throughout history and many of the oldest traditional stories have been handed down from generation to generation. However, in the West children are rarely invited to look at stories from different cultures.
So if you want to take advantage of untapped publishing opportunities, what are the most important things to remember?
There are three key learnings from the Masterclass:
Good and appropriate translation and adaptation is essential
Today is a golden age for the children’s book market in China. In 2019, one in three books sold in China was a children's title, and the market is experiencing a year on year growth of 18%. There is great diversity in children's content, ranging from home-grown original books to international titles. Titles from the US and the UK are the top imported children’s rights, followed by France, Japan and Germany.
The key for international titles to succeed in the Chinese market and for Chinese titles to make it in the global market is good and appropriate translation and adaptation.
Alicia asked the question: "Why is David Walliams a hit in the West, but not in China? Why is Bizzy Bear such a hit series in China? Stories are sometimes culturally different - they need to be adapted rather than simply translated into another language. That's why it is really important to have thoughtful and culturally sensitive translation and presentation - and even more so, to have a global mindset when you commission the story."
It is clear through experience that translating stories does not always portray the spirit and richness of imagery originally created. We all know some words in English might literally translate into Chinese, but that they don't hold the same meaning. When working to introduce a story to China, it is important to find a way to keep the integrity of the piece but make it understandable to the audience by considering the entire context, including cultural and other references.
Countries are made up of many subcultures, and they should be celebrated
Books have the power to reflect the diversity of different cultures and experiences, and this subtlety needs to be mirrored in what we are publishing.
Andrew Sharp made this point powerfully in the webinar when he said:
"The characterizations of cultures are easy to make when you just think of a country as one, but the world is much more diverse than that. It is important to remember that we in the UK do not expect children raised in London to have the same experience as someone raised on a farm in rural Kent."
Diversity is key to create empathy
Understanding different cultures gives children a unique perspective on the world, and shows them how despite our differences, and our different life experiences, we are all fundamentally the same. As Jan Ziff said:
“A lot of the ideas and the way children see the world when they grow up comes from what they learn as children. So, it's important to make people realize that they have so much in common and that people everywhere are similar.”
For Alicia Liu, these three key learnings took on a personal dimension.
Alicia’s grandfather was the literary translator who introduced Charles Dickens' David Copperfield to China in the 1940s. At the time, World War Two had just ended and the idea of translating Charles Dickens' work in China was not seen to be of any value. Her grandfather firmly believed that Charles Dickens truly understood the meaning of humanity; he was a close observer of human nature, introducing believable characters and plots that exposed the social and political conditions of the time.
A belief in the goodness of human nature is very much needed in these worrying and anxious times. Let’s hope that by introducing the beautiful stories from different cultures, children will be able to see themselves in the books they read and help children understand the world and their place in it.
You can access the trailer of the Beijing International Book Fair Insights Masterclass here.
