As in World War II, publishers initially thought it would help to develop a real global market for American books, and at the same time showed the patriotic spirit of the publishing industry. But the Cold War was a completely different war, and publishers soon found themselves involved in a more complicated situation.
Franklin Publishing Company (later Franklin Book Project) was funded by the United States. Over the years, it has worked closely with the US Information Agency (USIA) to promote American values around the world through printed materials. Its work includes ensuring that American publishers (such as Alfred A.Knopf Inc, Macmillan, D.Van Nostrand and McGraw Hill) have the right to translate specific books and sign contracts with publishers and printers in the countries where their offices are located to produce these books.
Franklin's publications are not distributed free of charge to ensure that they help develop the book infrastructure for commercial capitalist bookstores and distributors. Franklin has opened offices all over the world, including Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. These offices are run by citizens, many of whom have studied in the United States or have other connections with the United States. These offices employ famous educators and cultural figures from their own countries to help translate and promote Franklin's publications. Franklin's headquarters is in new york, and a few staff members often go to field offices to provide consultation and monitoring. At home, they keep in touch with Washington and the book industry.
Although the National Library Administration of the United States tends to think so, Franklin's efforts to promote American books during the Cold War were not purely propaganda activities. Datus Smith is Franklin's energetic leader and former president of Princeton University Press. From the beginning, he carefully established a certain degree of self-reliance for the organization and ensured that the selection of books was made by overseas offices, not by USIA. But over time, Franklin's employees (as well as publishers and scholars on the board of directors) were annoyed by American control. In particular, the choice of books is a source of constant tension. Franklin sometimes resists the pressure of NASA and pays the price of reducing funds for it.
What did Franklin publish? Franklin's concern not only reflects the popular choice of American literature in American classical literature, such as Little Women in louisa may alcott, but also reflects practical texts and nonfiction works that are considered useful to developing countries. Many texts are not only literal translations, but also prefaces of famous intellectuals, which shows the relevance of this book.
In some cases, the whole chapter may be replaced by local written content. When Franklin decided to publish Edward R. Murrow's popular anthology "This is My Fight" in * * * and Persian (according to his radio program, famous people discussed their beliefs), some chapters were replaced by those that highlighted the views of famous people in the Middle East. This article will also help the United States to publicize * * * religions and religious beliefs more widely, thus cracking down on capitalist disbelief.
Those who are related to Franklin believe.
Franklin's real legacy is not to help publish books, but to promote the development of book infrastructure. The Iranian offset printing factory funded by Franklin seems to be still in operation. Iranian publishers today acknowledged the work done by Franklin's office (under the leadership of Homayan Sanati) for the modernization of Iran's book industry. Franklin's results elsewhere were even more complicated. For example, in Africa, when Franklin faced British publishers, it was difficult to make any progress. Even after independence, these publishers are still deeply rooted, and the diversity of African languages makes translation a challenge and produces enough unprofitable books.
Franklin's story shows the contradiction brought by the Cold War to the United States: I hope to maintain American values abroad, but at the same time I need to promise these values in the complex political reality. Although some Americans may have good intentions to participate in foreign charities, the beneficiaries of those charities do not always want this kind of assistance (or want to promote it in a way that best reflects their own needs and wishes). This discovery only dealt a blow to the growing suspicion of foreign cultural efforts. Franklin defended himself by saying that it only got funds from the Asia Foundation (indeed funded by the CIA) and did not deliberately get funds from the CIA.
But the damage has been done. Franklin struggled in the 1970s, but his funds dried up. Publishers questioned Franklin's commercial value and lost their patriotic intention to inspire them to support Franklin at the beginning of the Cold War. After Datus Smith left Franklin, the controversy over Franklin's leadership made it more difficult for the organization to survive. 1978, Franklin's book program (known at that time) stopped running.