时间：2022-05-02 04:36:42
Bridge21 is an American publisher founded in 2011 with the goal to overcome knowledge gaps between Western and Asian cultures. It focuses on scholarly publications in areas of humanities and social sciences. After the 2014 Beijing International Book Fair， I had the honor of meeting with the president and the executive editor of Bridge21 Publications， Dr. Gregory Kaplan and Dr. Matthias Wahls. Both of them are veterans in scholarly publishing with China as a business focus.
According to Dr. Kaplan， through his regular contact with both Chinese leading scholarly publishers and scholars he’s visited personally， he and the team have witnessed the publication of some books so far， covering a wide range of topics in philosophy， anthropology， literature， art， media， intellectual history， higher education， and business. The books are for a wide readership， ranging from university libraries to high-ups in relevant industries. As for the authors of the books， the most important scholars in China are always most preferable. In this regard， the Chinese publisher of the book could be a reference for the academic importance of the Chinese scholars， as those at the very high end of the leading publishers like the Peking University Press and the Tsinghua University Press will always be able to attract top scholars in Mainland China.
It can be seen that humanities and social sciences are highly sought after in Chinese academia， even by academics who do not specialize in those areas but maintain a healthy interest， Dr. Wahls further points out that arts and culture subjects have long-term value. Of course， the unavoidable cultural gap means that the readers of books on those subjects are by and large highly educated. And even highly educated readers need ample time to digest such content. Dr. Wahls also gives the example of traditional Chinese poetry， which requires a high level of difficulty in translation and reading， but nonetheless maintains thousands of fans internationally. He asked a German scholar who translates traditional Chinese poetry about this phenomenon， and he believes that challenging writings draw in a more interested - and interesting - readership. This readership may be limited， yet it’s very important to the reputation of scholarly publishers
On the other hand， publication is never an individual activity which could be separated from its social background. The scholarly publication of subjects in humanities and social sciences in Mainland China， though needs improvement in many aspects， it still shows improvements. According to the recent report of the China Press and Publishing Journal， the State General Administration of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television of the People's Republic of China is going to organize the first round of qualification assessment on Chinese scholarly periodicals. With the jury made up of 47 Chinese scholars， the periodicals will be divided into groups of natural science and social sciences， and undergo the qualification assessment with strict criteria， with the scholarly and non-scholarly periodicals managed separately. Interesting starts.
When asked about the arrangements for book fairs such as the BIBF， Dr. Kaplan said that he often looks around and chats with the Chinese scholarly publishers the most. But books fairs are not the only way for him to get the news from the industry. He also keeps abreast of relevant media reports， and sees a lot of Chinese scholars personally in China， and in particular Beijing， where the top universities， scholarly resources， and publishing houses congregate.