...translated into 23 languages

[Eric]

When reviewers want to impress readers as to the importance of a book, they often give the number of languages into which it has been translated. Is it not odd that these reviewers seldom think that when it comes to literature from abroad, there are quite a few novels that have appeared in several translations, but not English?

In our world of cut-throat bookselling competition, and with publishers following one another on book fair tips, what does the number of languages say about a particular book except for the the fact that it has attained the dubious title of "bestseller" internationally?

[Flower]

I think it says that the story appeals to many readers outside the country of origin.

[Eric]

You are undoubtedly right, Flower. But it is a hollow form of self-praise on the part of countries because as I suggested, once a book is translated it creates a head of steam that means it will be translated into umpteen other languages. It's the equivalent of notches on the bedpost.

As books are often selected for commercial purposes nowadays, in order to make profits for the publishing house, you suspect that such translations have far more to do with making money than with the spreading of a particular national culture or interesting author.

[Flower]

Eric,
The book Im reading at the moment has been translated into many languages but not English. Something which I find strange as the topic of the book would/should interest everybody in Europe. The book is called "Det dobbelte land" by Birgithe Kosovic. Its about her grandfather who lived in ex-jugoslavia and the war and the choices people were forced to make. It has been a while since I have read such a great writer and I can understand that many people across Europe would be interested in her story, but why not England???
PS. She won a huge prize by a newspaper lately, kr. 200.000 chosen by the readers. And I believe she deserves it!

[Eric]

As someone who translates books into English, I am the first to bemoan the fact that so few get translated. This means I'm always having to struggle to get perfectly decent books in my translation published. And some of my recent translations have been for United States publishing houses. It would be nice if Britain became more open to translations. It is still an uphill battle to get translations published in the English language.

I too have seen examples of books that are translated into umpteen languages, but not English. You can often see on European publishers' websites which countries the foreign rights to a particular book have been sold. And Britain and the USA are often missing from the list.

The 1987 Estonian novel whose proofs I'm now checking appeared in, for instance, Finnish in 1987 (i.e. the same year), Swedish in 1997, French in 1999, and my English translation will hopefully appear in 2011. So what was published virtually simulaneously with the original in neighbouring Finland, has taken almost a quarter of a century to appear in English, and not in England but the USA.

[Loki]

According to my edition, The Pilgrim's Progress has been translated into more than 200 languages (although it's like saying it's not been translated into 5800 languages). I thought 200 languages is a lot, but considering it is so widely read... Anyway, the strangest thing of all is that I'm participating a translation contest whose main aim is "to promote important works of European literature never translated into Italian or that are now out of sale", and The Pilgrim's Progress is apparently one such work. Is it possible that Italian is not among that list of more than 200 languages?

[hdw]

According to my edition, The Pilgrim's Progress has been translated into more than 200 languages (although it's like saying it's not been translated into 5800 languages). I thought 200 languages is a lot, but considering it is so widely read... Anyway, the strangest thing of all is that I'm participating a translation contest whose main aim is "to promote important works of European literature never translated into Italian or that are now out of sale", and The Pilgrim's Progress is apparently one such work. Is it possible that Italian is not among that list of more than 200 languages?

It might be because that book is a product of Evangelical Protestantism, and the Roman Catholic Church in Italy would not have been keen to see an Italian translation.

Harry

[Eric]

If you want Catholics to read the work without getting mental bunions, you have to turn it into an audio drama:

http://catholicmediareview.blogspot....uve-never.html

[RamonaQ]

These books that were translated into 200 languages and not English, may have actually been translated to English, but their translations never saw the light of day on a shelf in a book store. Instead, they were used as a basis for further translation.

[Eric]

Sorry, RamonaQ, I've lost then thread. Which books are "these" books?

[RamonaQ]

Sorry about that, I typed too quickly and wasn't clear - "These" doesn't refer to any particular book from the thread, rather I was supposing. Some books, any books that have been translated into XY languages...

For instance, I have met a few ambitious authors in Croatia that have paid for a translation to English with the hopes of finding a publisher, but with no luck. Some of these books that I know of have been published in other languages, but not in English, One of the more recent jobs that I took up for a local publisher was translation of some short stories for children only for the purpose of using these translations as a basis for translation into a third and fourth language.

[Eric]

In an ideal world, books are translated directly from Language A into Language B. It is, of course, rather depressing for a translator if his or her translations are merely used for promotional purposes. When Croatia joins the EU, things may improve because during the twelve months before accession, there will be an intense bout of interest in Croatian culture. This is because of the "who are we allowing to join our club?" factor. But it does mean that Croatian authors will be in the limelight for a while. So, ambitious authors are getting ready, though they may not necessarily be the best, simply those with the sharpest elbows.

[Owen]

I currently have a manuscript out like this--translated into many other languages, but not English. That manuscript will now likely be used for at least one other-than-English translation. Assuming the publisher ponies up.

One issue in the current climate is that if a book happens to get passed over immediately after publication, its chances in the English market go down significantly because it's "old news". I think publishers assume that if an older (i.e. 3>years) book hasn't been taken by someone already, there must be a reason. Depending on genre of course.

There may also be some cases in which what is novel in those other foreign markets is not in the English market. Also perhaps styles of writing that translate particularly poorly into English. Ten years ago present tense narration would have fallen into that category. Not so much anymore though. Those things can be overcome in translation, but samples seem often to fail to address such things.

[hdw]

There may also be some cases in which what is novel in those other foreign markets is not in the English market.

Indeed. I remember once being asked to do a sample translation from a rather sensational Swedish book about a nasty murder case (prostitutes being murdered and their body parts left in black plastic sacks around Stockholm), and the two men eventually arrested and charged were claimed later to be innocent. It had created a sensation in Sweden, and the author thought it would do so here too. I had to tell him that in Britain, I'm afraid, miscarriages of justice are ten a penny, and at any given time our jails are full of people who allegedly shouldn't be there.

Predictably, no British publisher showed even a flicker of interest in his book. Parochialism comes into it, of course - if the crimes had happened in London, Birmingham or Manchester, that might have been different.

Harry

[Eric]

Owen is right about lists of languages into which a particular author is translated "but not English". This happens a great deal, because of that sad figure 3%, which is always being quoted.

But this can be to the advantage of translators who like not only to translate works, but to introduce them, and their authors, to the English-speaking world. I believe I did this with Mati Unt at Dalkey. Unt had been translated into English a little via the Russian or directly from Estonian in a few Soviet publications. But I feel that I introduced him to Dalkey, translating two novels by him, with another novel by him translated for Dalkey by Ants Eert. That is where a translator can be of more value than a literary agent in that a translator can actually read the original work and knows the source-language and target-language cultures. But it's a pity when the English version is merely used to translate it into further languages.

Another thing Owen mentions is the obsession in the English-speaking world with the newness of works. There are so many modern classics, written especially in smaller languages, that have never appeared in English. It is sad when publishers (or once again literary agents, no doubt) keep up this excitement with newness. That is often crude commercialism, without considering the long-term value of a work.

Not all British publishers are complete philistines. "The Dedalus Book of Estonian Literature" with short-stories translated by myself, came out a week ago. But Dedalus is, admittedly, a smaller publishing house, and I don't necessarily think that the larger ones are interested in things written in "funny little languages". That's why of the last five books I have translated, four have been for American publishers.

[Eric]

Another point is indeed the historic present in narration. This was thrown out of the window for translations until quite recently, although there are plenty of English-language authors that have been using it for decades. A peculiar case of double standards.

Afrikaans doesn't have a simple past except for a very few key verbs (to be, etc.). Like French and English, it uses a kind of passé composé for verbs (I have read, ek het gelees, j'ai lis) but unlike French, it does not have a special simple past for literary works. So the past tense can get long-winded, causing authors to use the historic present. Then the translator has to decide whether to use present of past in narration. An interesting problem.