National Geographic Goes Chinese
Haven’t had time to do a side-by-side comparison of the English and Chinese versions of the National Geographic’s new China issue? Danwei.org does it for you in a detailed, nicely done article by Iacob Koch-Weser:
An American publication portraying China to the Chinese – in Chinese? Not surprisingly, the choice of topics reveals certain China tropes that have gained currency in the West: the overburdened lives of middle class children who must succeed at all costs; the demographic time-bomb of the one-child policy; the rural hinterlands of Guizhou, backward and benighted yet beautifully mysterious; the polluted Yellow River and the urban jungles of the Pearl River Delta, gloomy results of breakneck development; the archaeological treasures of an ancient Sichuanese kingdom; the architectural coups of the Olympic project. The China portrayed here is forever a country of extremes, enchanting and frightening, with little room for middle ground.
…When politically sensitive issues are at stake, the US and Chinese versions steer a different course. In the US, it is to reinforce popular notions about China; in China, it is to get past the censors. This is unfortunate for readers on both sides of the Pacific.
The Chinese version of Nat Geo’s China issue raised a stir earlier in the month when it was discovered some of its pages had been glued together.
