The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's 1964 classic, Hard to be a God, just out in a (long overdue) new translation by Olena Bormashenko, from Chicago Review Press.
Great to have the new translation, etc. etc. -- but, shockingly, the copyright page reveals:
The Amazon-Hachette dispute has led to many comments about the need to foster and sustain a literary culture, and how Amazon's actions are undermining that. Well, publishers have a role too, and any publisher that is commissioning 'work for hire' translations, or that retains the translation copyright, is not doing right by authors, translators, readers, or the literary culture in general.
I remind you that PEN explicitly advises translators: "We do not recommend accepting work-for-hire agreements". No kidding. But translators often don't have bargaining power; publishers with any sort of integrity shouldn't even be suggesting it. (Alas, many, many still do -- you know who you are, and shame on you.)
I harp on it specifically in this case, because this is a translation that was: "Published with the support of the Institute for Literary Translation (Russia)" and Transcript, an International Project of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation. I.e. this was a well-subsidized translation.
Now, I realize that individual translators can face a difficult situation trying to stand up to publisher arm-twisting about terms, and that even translator-groups may be leery of being too direct in their complaints, but this seems an area where pressure could usefully be exerted: surely for example the PEN Translation Committee or English PEN's Global Translation Initiative can exert their influence in making sure that translation-subsidizing groups (and there are lots of them) make support conditional on translators' rights being upheld (something that should be a matter of course, but, as we see, isn't) -- first and foremost: if a translation is subsidized, the subsidy is conditional on translators getting (and really holding) copyright on their work.
How about it ?
Great to have the new translation, etc. etc. -- but, shockingly, the copyright page reveals:
English language translation copyright © 2014 by Chicago Review Press IncorporatedFolks, this is not okay. This is not acceptable. This is outrageous.
The Amazon-Hachette dispute has led to many comments about the need to foster and sustain a literary culture, and how Amazon's actions are undermining that. Well, publishers have a role too, and any publisher that is commissioning 'work for hire' translations, or that retains the translation copyright, is not doing right by authors, translators, readers, or the literary culture in general.
I remind you that PEN explicitly advises translators: "We do not recommend accepting work-for-hire agreements". No kidding. But translators often don't have bargaining power; publishers with any sort of integrity shouldn't even be suggesting it. (Alas, many, many still do -- you know who you are, and shame on you.)
I harp on it specifically in this case, because this is a translation that was: "Published with the support of the Institute for Literary Translation (Russia)" and Transcript, an International Project of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation. I.e. this was a well-subsidized translation.
Now, I realize that individual translators can face a difficult situation trying to stand up to publisher arm-twisting about terms, and that even translator-groups may be leery of being too direct in their complaints, but this seems an area where pressure could usefully be exerted: surely for example the PEN Translation Committee or English PEN's Global Translation Initiative can exert their influence in making sure that translation-subsidizing groups (and there are lots of them) make support conditional on translators' rights being upheld (something that should be a matter of course, but, as we see, isn't) -- first and foremost: if a translation is subsidized, the subsidy is conditional on translators getting (and really holding) copyright on their work.
How about it ?