英闻天下——194 Fantasy Literature for Children Has Huge Potential

 　　Thanks to the development trend over the past years, fantasy literature is now accessible to not only adult readers but also children.

 

　　A forum¹ was recently held in Beijing during which participants agreed that such development trend would have an increasingly strong impact on children's literature in China.

 

　　Xu Dexia, director of the Children's Literature Publishing Center at China Children's Press and Publishing Group, believes fantasy fiction will continue to heat up in China this year although it is still in its infancy².

 

　　"Fantasy literature was very successful in catching³ the spotlight⁴ in the publishing industry in 2012. For example, a recent symposium⁵ attracted well over 50 writers to attend."

 

　　Xu Dexia, director of the Children's Literature Publishing Center at China Children's Press and Publishing Group, speaks at a forum reviewing the history of Children's Literature. The group published the first edition of the journals in 1963. Xu discussed the publication's future development in Beijing on Friday, January 25, 2013. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Xu Fei]

 

　　Of the fantasy literature, science fiction is highly popular with children. 13-year-old Liu Wangding is a great fan of such books. He is also a member of a local young readers society "Super Reading World".

 

　　"I like reading science fiction, and one of my favorite books is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Fantasy literature satisfies my curiosity, and I'm always interested in learning about science."

 

　　A senior editor of Children's Literature at the China Children's Press and Publishing Group, Feng Zhen, says it is good to see that fantasy literature thrives in China.

 

　　"Fantasy literature is a purely⁶ imported genre⁷ from western countries. Chinese authors took some getting used to it before being able to produce such stories of their own. That is why there has been a blank period in the domestic market. With the Harry⁸ Potter stories introduced into China, such books quickly became popular in this country."

 

　　Feng Zhen, senior editor of the Journals of Children's Literature at China Children's Press and Publishing Group, speaks at a forum reviewing the history of Children's Literature. The group published the first edition of the journals in 1963. Feng discussed the publication's future development in Beijing on Friday, January 25, 2013 in Beijing. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Xu Fei]

 

　　However, Feng Zhen says translated works would not, and should not prevent the development of home grown fantasy literature given the difference between Chinese and western cultures.

 

　　"Western fantasy literature is popular though, but Chinese children have difficulty to fully⁹ appreciate such stories simply because of different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, Chinese writers have a huge role to play in helping¹⁰ develop this branch of literature for our young readers."

 

　　Feng Zhen cited the success of "Luoling's Magic", a best seller written by Chinese writer Chen Liuhuan. The book depicts¹¹ a 13-year-old alien girl growing up on Earth. The series has sold 1.6 million copies since hitting the shelves.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Ding Lulu.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

5 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

6 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

7 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

8 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。