A Study on the Collaborative Supply Mechanism of Picture Books for Rural Left-Behind Children: An Actor-Network Theory Perspective

Abstract

The supply of picture books for rural left-behind children is a complex systemic project involving multiple actors, including government, publishing institutions, creators, social forces, and terminal service agencies. According to Actor-Network Theory (ANT), based on differences in their positions, roles, and functions in picture book supply, these multiple actors can be classified into three basic types: focal actors, main actors, and joint actors. The current supply network faces a structural dilemma characterized by a disconnect between the design end and the demand end. In addition to the absolute scarcity of resources, its root causes also include systemic ruptures in translation chains among heterogeneous actors. Drawing on the analytical framework of ANT, this paper traces the translation process of picture books from design to publication to reading promotion along four stages: problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilization, and dissidence handling. The study finds that the current supply network suffers from breakpoints such as the absence of focal actors, imbalance in interessement, and the instrumentalization of non-human actors, which make it difficult for cognitive outcomes from the design end to be transmitted to the publishing end, and for reading feedback from the promotion end to flow back into content production decisions. Accordingly, a collaborative supply pathway is proposed, consisting of cultivating focal actors, institutionalizing interessement, expanding enrolment strategies, and establishing dissidence coordination mechanisms, so as to provide a theoretical reference for the precise allocation of reading resources for rural left-behind children in the context of nationwide reading.