Surveys in the children’s and young adult publishing market show that Iranian teenagers’ interest in translated books has increased over the past year.
According to a cultural reporterTasnim News Agency, Iran’s youth book market has never been as much of a conduit for translated books as it has been in the past decade. The mass of books that enter the Iranian publishing market through this route is mainly driven by economic considerations for the publisher and the return on investment. His capital has been published. In a situation where investing in a self-published book is considered risky for a publisher, the best option is to choose books that have already passed their test and have been able to attract audiences across the water. In a situation where Since there are no rules or requirements for respecting copyright, paying translation fees for a popular book is the safest way to invest. Although the Ministry of Culture had previously promised to regulate this market, translations continue to be a booming market. They have in their hands.
The report on children’s and young adult publishing last year shows that, like many years in the past decade, the publication of translated books continues to be booming and is not far behind the number of authored books. According to the announced statistics, last year there were 22,888 Book titles have been published in this field, of which 13,285 were authored titles and 9,603 were translated titles. The gap between authorship and translation in 1402 has decreased compared to the previous year, because in 1401, 12,475 book titles were published. Published by author and seven thousand
A survey of large bookstores in Tehran and some other major cities indicates that these categories of works were the first choice for teenagers to purchase last year:
Tehran Central Book City:
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Purple Pastels by Katherine Applegate
Wuthering Heights; Emily Bronte
Harry Potter story collection
Toranjestan Soroush:
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Clay Rabbits by Kevin Hanks
Treehouse by Andy Griffiths
Collection of 12 Stories from the Infallibles, Hossein Fattahi
Store Name:
Harry Potter collection
The girl who drank the moon
Purple pastels
Little prince
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Maxey
City of Books and Culture:
The Magic Shop by James R. Doughty
Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Finney
Purple Pastels by Katherine Applegate
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Safranieh Bookland:
Jujutsu Kaisen; by Gege Akutami
Attack on Titan series by Hajime Isayama
Harry Potter collection
Horizon Bookstore:
Back of the classroom, last row, last seat; by Louis Secker
Purple Pastels by Katherine Applegate
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The War That Saved Me by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The reception of translated books is also seen in other cities. For example, in the Central Book City of Mashhad, the books “Purple Lollipops”, “I Am Poison, Please” by Dustin Tao, “The Girl Who Drank the Moon”, “The Girl Who Fell to the Bottom of the Sea” by Oxy Oh, “Namiya’s Grocery Store” by Keigo Higashino and “The Abandoned Asylum” by the famous Dan Pabloki have attracted the most attention from teenagers in the past year.
Although it cannot be fully claimed that this list is the final list for measuring the interest of the teenage audience in books, it can be considered a handful of examples. Ali Rokab, one of the managers of the Asm store, the reason for the interest of the teenage audience in translated books He believes that the low printing of authored books is a problem. According to him, the distribution rate of translated books in stores is several times that of authored books.
Manga remains popular
Among all the bookstores mentioned (except for Toranjestan Soroush), manga books have been among the most popular works in the past year. Rekab attributes this to the inquisitive minds of today’s teenagers, saying: “Teenagers of the 1960s are looking for superheroes.” They were, but the mind of today’s teenager has changed. He is looking for philosophy and the why of life. This publishing activist continues: I also work in schools. With the help of children, we have formed Harry Potter and manga reading circles. Based on my experience I would say that teenagers are seeking to discover the meaning of life through Eastern culture by reading such works; the culture of China, Korea, and Japan is mysterious, and this is attractive to today’s teenagers who have distanced themselves from the teenage superhero world of previous decades.
Manga books have serious opponents and supporters in Iran. Opponents believe that this category of works is unbridled and burdensome. It seems that regardless of which group’s opinion is closer to reality, what has increased the popularity of such works in Iran is the formation of circles of Eastern art in the country that have been made available to the audience, either legally or illegally; TV series, music, cultural industries, etc. Imani, one of the officials of the Mashhad Book City bookstore, also believes that the reason for the boom in manga books is the promotion of Korean and East Asian culture along with other branches of art. According to him, the popularity of manga books came after the popularity of BTS and Korean series have increased. Although some publishing activists say that manga books have their own audience, everyone acknowledges and emphasizes the best-selling nature of this category of works.
Is an Iranian teenager angry with an Iranian book?
In an interview with Tasnim, writer Hadi Hakimian stated that the Iranian audience has not been angry with Iranian works; he said: “This trend is the result of the inaction of the country’s cultural authorities and institutions. Translated literature cannot be stopped, and the country’s entrance doors cannot be closed.” He closed on foreign works, but we do not have cultural management in this area. He considered one of the reasons for the boom in manga and anime collections in recent years to be the broadcasting of Korean series, adding: “When Korean series are broadcast on various television networks, it makes room for Opens Korean novels. According to this author; our cultural institutions, including education, intellectual development centers, art centers, etc., have a duty to invest and support the field of written literature, especially in the children and youth sector, and have organized a festival And introduce successful books.
The impact of economic conditions on publication content
The impact of economic conditions on the publishing sector, in addition to routine issues such as paper, printing supplies, etc., can also be seen on content; an issue that is now more evident than ever and will become more apparent if no solution is found for it. Hakimian with Referring to this issue, he spoke about the limited printing of authored books compared to translated books and reminded: “Our country is not bound by copyright law. When the publisher does not have to pay a fee to the foreign author or publisher for the translation of the work, the work can be done easily at a low cost, publishes it on the market. Most of these works have already been advertised, and sometimes serials have been made; therefore, they will be associated with high sales. However, the work of writing requires more time and expense. For a written novel, it takes at least a year. This is while it cannot be certain that all of these works will be successful in attracting an audience; as a result, the publisher must accept this risk. In a situation where the publisher’s risk tolerance has decreased, he decides to move towards publishing books that are Since then, they have been introduced and promoted through cultural industries, including animation and film, and the Iranian audience is no stranger to its characters. Behind such works as the Harry Potter books is a large media outlet like Hollywood. While Korean and Chinese books have their audience in The Iranian market finds that the national media broadcasts Korean series 24/7.
The impact of television on increasing manga book sales in Iran
He stated: “Today’s teenagers do not know the history of their country, but they are aware of the history of Korea; Korea, which, like us or in comparison to countries such as China and Japan, does not have a history or antiquity.” Referring to the successful project of the Iranian novel in the center of intellectual development during the Shahabadi’s management added: “Our teenage audience has grown today and follows a variety of topics, from romance to detective stories. Cultural institutions can support publishers and writers who are working seriously in this field to fill this gap.”
Iranian children’s and young adult literature, a springboard It is more prominent than the content aspect. It seems that as we move from the sixties and seventies, which were the golden age of Iranian children’s and young adult literature, to today, publishers have more control over the market than authors. In an era when cultural centers such as Kanoon The intellectual development of children and the artistic field are the only remaining brands, and market development and audience taste formation are dependent on the whims of some publishers.