MCLC: Journal of Chinese Humanities

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Journal of Chinese Humanities
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Source: China Daily (7/23/14):
http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2014-07/23/content_17902594.htm

Chinese journal reaches English audience
By Deng Zhangyu (China Daily)

Foreign readers may soon be able to read an influential Chinese academic
journal on literature, history and philosophy in English online.

The journal has entered into a partnership with academic publisher Brill
to "introduce China's social sciences to people across the world".

According to editors at the Journal of Chinese Humanities, the first issue
will concentrate on the development of Chinese society, from the time the
first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) unified China to the
Revolution of 1911. It features papers from six Chinese and three foreign
scholars.

The journal's next issue will focus on the dialogue between Confucianism
and Christian civilization. And there will be discussions on concepts like
Taoism in future issues.

The journal is planned to have a semi-annual print run for the first two
years. After three years it will change into a quarterly publication. The
English version is only available in electronic formats outside China.

However, it's still unclear how much the electronic journal will cost per
view and how it will be accessed. The publisher Brill, which is based in
Leiden, the Netherlands, is adding more Asian academic titles to its
stable. It finished its first round of promotion of the Chinese journal in
Singapore on July 17.

But for the editors of the journal, the biggest problem is translation.

"We have lots of difficulties in accurately translating our culture into
other languages," says Wang Xuedian, chief editor of the journal,
explaining that many things in Chinese culture and history do not exist in
the Western world.

To solve the problem of translation, the journal hired foreign scholars
visiting China to research Chinese studies to help them translate Chinese
papers into English.

The editorial board of the journal's English version has 24 well-known
scholars on Chinese studies including Ying-shih Yu, Roger Ames and
Tomohisa Ikeda.

"We want foreigners to understand China's rise through its culture and
history, not just by looking at its economics and politics," Wang says.

More people outside China are interested in the emerging power and eager
to understand more about the country. That is why Wang and his team
decided to publish an English version.

Many Chinese journals on economics and science have already published
English versions, working with international publishing houses or book
agents. But Wang says there are very few academic journals on China's
social sciences that reach overseas markets. Wang and his staff have
adopted a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to who will be interested in
the academic journal and what kind of topics can attract readers.

"We are trying our best to provide a cultural angel for foreign readers to
better understand what is happening in China," Wang adds.

The Chinese government has long encouraged academic journals to produce
English versions. Xu Qingshen, head of the social sciences department of
the Ministry of Education, said at the journal's launching ceremony on
June 25 that his department is considering investing more money and having
more polices to support English versions of academic journals.

"We're optimistic about the overseas market. What matters is the quality
and level of our academic journals," president of Shanghai Century
Publishing Group Chen Xin told the Oriental Morning Post. Chen's company
will publish 50 English versions of academic journals and books within two
years.

Founded in 1951, the Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy is a
renowned university journal of Shandong University and an academic leader.
It has held many influential discussions on Chinese culture and history in
past decades. Chinese linguist Ji Xianlin said in 1998 that to publish a
paper in the journal was "really a great achievement".

The Chinese journal has had subscribers outside China since the 1950s. By
the end of 2008, it had 545 overseas subscribers, according to the China
National Publications Import and Export Corporation. Most are libraries of
universities and academic institutes.

dengzhangyu at chinadaily.com.cn