2
The reason to explore the question from the standpoint of globalization is that the
mass media act the barometer of globalization, while publishing is one of the integral
parts of the media. Globalization is a process that requires a great deal of
cooperation between different countries, organizations and regions, and in addition
the compression of time and space influences the publishing industry. The research
in this paper reveals the perspective when books cross borders.
Another reason for investigating the globalization process is that the English
language represents one of the major agents of the globalization process and is thus
deemed an aspect of Westernization. So, looking at things from this perspective,
does the English language dominate the world? Some may take it for granted that it
does and think the whole world is heading in this direction. Taiwan, which is a small
country, but important in the richness of its publishing output, is a place in which to
test this assumption and find out whether it is true or to what extent it needs
modifying. Globalization is a Western concept and people may assume that
everyone in the world can read English, but there are many possibilities of
hybridization, each with its associated difficulties. This paper shows what the current
situation in this respect.
The reason for choosing the publishing industry and focusing on the globalization
process in Taiwan are as follows. First, since the local book market in Taiwan is not
deemed sufficient for some ambitious booksellers, they are trying to devise ways to
expand their business to reach the global market. Globalization processes allow for
greater amounts of free capital flow and the compression of time and space, so as to
provide a better environment for the expansion of local business interests. Yet,
while some booksellers put their efforts into the global market, others still focus on
the local market. Therefore, what is the impetus that pushes them in these different
directions? To answer this question, the research in this paper reveals in what ways
globalization has effected changes in the publishing industry in Taiwan.
1.4 Why New Technology?
New technologies have had a dramatic impact in cultural terms. For instance, they
have significantly transformed the ways in which cultural “goods” in general are
Convention