A few weeks ago Dalya Alberge wrote in The Observer how, supposedly, British readers lost in translations as foreign literature sales boom -- a piece I found ... a bit problematic; at MobyLives Sal Robinson also wondered about the treatment of the subject, in Do books in translation sell ? A chestnut considered.
Now comes Hephzibah Anderson at BBC Culture, wondering Why won't English speakers read books in translation ?
Unfortunately, this article too focuses on the fairly arbitrary/pointless/random pseudo-statistic that always seems to haunt this discussion (and drives me nuts): that three, or two, or some fairly small per cent of published-in-English fiction is fiction-in-translation. (For some discussion of this issue, see my taking issue with Literature Across Frontiers' (woeful) last attempt to determine a percentage .....) And so we also get stuff like:
Okay, I'll humor you. Let's go there. In 2013 the official numbers have a mere 5,084 books published in Slovenia (US: 304,912 traditionally published titles) -- of which 1571 were translations -- 30.9%. The more interesting sub-set of numbers: 1,189 works of literature were published, of which 606 were translations: 50.97%. (I have no idea where Anderson and Gentzler got the 70% number from -- but pulling numbers/percentages out of thin is air is par for the course for discussions of this subject matter .....).
Here's where it gets embarrassing: the Three Percent translation database (warning ! dreaded ... xls format !), of new translations published/distributed in 2013 the US currently lists 524 literary works in translation (novels, stories, anthologies, and poetry). Meanwhile, taking out the translated dramas (not on the Translation Database -- but only amounting to four anyway), 602 literary works in translation were published in Slovenian in 2013.
Okay, the US total would be slightly higher if re-translations were included (they're excluded from the Translation Database, but are included in the Slovenian numbers); new ("re-editions") of all published titles in Slovenia made up just under 15% of all publications; if that total holds true across literary translation too (and presumably it's somewhere close to that), Slovenian production would be almost exactly the same as US production.
"English-language publishers bring out so many books [...] a hefty number -- far heftier than Slovenia's 70%" ? you say. I say: you don't know what you're talking about. Combine US and UK (and Irish and Indian and whatnot) totals (i.e. English-language publishers worldwide), yes, it's surely considerably (well, at least a bit ...) bigger -- but it looks like Slovenia, a country with a population the same as ... Houston, publishes about the same total number of titles of literature in translation as the US does.
So, before you go spouting numbers (and choose to rely on (nonsense -- like 'three percent' (and, apparently 70%, which would have Slovenia publishing far more translations than the US) -- statistics), maybe take a closer look at the available figures .....
Beyond that, to get back to the Gentzler-quote above -- if you still want to bother -- nobody ever, ever forgets Dalkey when compiling these statistics, since year in and year out (for quite some time now) Dalkey is one of the leading publishers of literature in translation in the US. Like far and away leaders -- 9.56% in 2013, and 8% (!) of the fiction totals on this year's (admittedly still incomplete) translation database at Three Percent, which currently lists 384 published/distributed-for-the-first-time-in-the-US translations, the leading publishers being (with the number of titles in translation they're publishing):
As to Mage -- much as I appreciate what they and many similar niche publishers are doing, they're not padding the statistics: their literary output is limited, to say the least (something every couple of years recently).
And, yes, there's wonderful stuff being done by magazines, websites, independent publishers, etc. etc. -- but, I fear, much is still at the fringes.
Enough for today (my head hurts from bashing it against the wall so often in frustration and annoyance ...) -- that's enough to chew on for now, isn't it? But I wish the level of argument were at a higher/more substantive level (like using/citing actual data -- published numbers, sales totals, etc.). Why always so anecdotal ? (whereby I include 'three percent' and the like as anecdotal, since no one ever seems to manage to offer supporting evidence for that claim). Why always so wrong ?
Unfortunately, this article too focuses on the fairly arbitrary/pointless/random pseudo-statistic that always seems to haunt this discussion (and drives me nuts): that three, or two, or some fairly small per cent of published-in-English fiction is fiction-in-translation. (For some discussion of this issue, see my taking issue with Literature Across Frontiers' (woeful) last attempt to determine a percentage .....) And so we also get stuff like:
Professor Edwin Gentzler, director of the Translation Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sees ample reason for optimism regarding the health of translation in English-speaking countries, despite those damning stats.First off: seriously ? You want to compare translation into Slovenian -- "the first language of about 1.85 million people" as Wikipedia (probably reasonably) suggests -- with translation into English ? Seriously ?
English-language publishers bring out so many books between them that three per cent is a hefty number -- far heftier than Slovenia's 70%, he says. Moreover, the statistics often overlook small independent presses like Dalkey Archive and Open Letter, as well as specialists like Mage, an American press that publishes translations exclusively from Persian.
Okay, I'll humor you. Let's go there. In 2013 the official numbers have a mere 5,084 books published in Slovenia (US: 304,912 traditionally published titles) -- of which 1571 were translations -- 30.9%. The more interesting sub-set of numbers: 1,189 works of literature were published, of which 606 were translations: 50.97%. (I have no idea where Anderson and Gentzler got the 70% number from -- but pulling numbers/percentages out of thin is air is par for the course for discussions of this subject matter .....).
Here's where it gets embarrassing: the Three Percent translation database (warning ! dreaded ... xls format !), of new translations published/distributed in 2013 the US currently lists 524 literary works in translation (novels, stories, anthologies, and poetry). Meanwhile, taking out the translated dramas (not on the Translation Database -- but only amounting to four anyway), 602 literary works in translation were published in Slovenian in 2013.
Okay, the US total would be slightly higher if re-translations were included (they're excluded from the Translation Database, but are included in the Slovenian numbers); new ("re-editions") of all published titles in Slovenia made up just under 15% of all publications; if that total holds true across literary translation too (and presumably it's somewhere close to that), Slovenian production would be almost exactly the same as US production.
"English-language publishers bring out so many books [...] a hefty number -- far heftier than Slovenia's 70%" ? you say. I say: you don't know what you're talking about. Combine US and UK (and Irish and Indian and whatnot) totals (i.e. English-language publishers worldwide), yes, it's surely considerably (well, at least a bit ...) bigger -- but it looks like Slovenia, a country with a population the same as ... Houston, publishes about the same total number of titles of literature in translation as the US does.
So, before you go spouting numbers (and choose to rely on (nonsense -- like 'three percent' (and, apparently 70%, which would have Slovenia publishing far more translations than the US) -- statistics), maybe take a closer look at the available figures .....
Beyond that, to get back to the Gentzler-quote above -- if you still want to bother -- nobody ever, ever forgets Dalkey when compiling these statistics, since year in and year out (for quite some time now) Dalkey is one of the leading publishers of literature in translation in the US. Like far and away leaders -- 9.56% in 2013, and 8% (!) of the fiction totals on this year's (admittedly still incomplete) translation database at Three Percent, which currently lists 384 published/distributed-for-the-first-time-in-the-US translations, the leading publishers being (with the number of titles in translation they're publishing):
- 1. Dalkey Archive 31
- 2. Europa Editions 18
- -. Gallic Books 18
- 4. AmazonCrossing 17
- 5. Seagull Books 16
- 6. Other Press 15
- 7. Atria 9
- 8. American University at Cairo 8
- -. Farrar, Straus & Giroux 8
- -. Melville House 8
- -. Minotaur 8
- -. Open Letter 8
As to Mage -- much as I appreciate what they and many similar niche publishers are doing, they're not padding the statistics: their literary output is limited, to say the least (something every couple of years recently).
And, yes, there's wonderful stuff being done by magazines, websites, independent publishers, etc. etc. -- but, I fear, much is still at the fringes.
Enough for today (my head hurts from bashing it against the wall so often in frustration and annoyance ...) -- that's enough to chew on for now, isn't it? But I wish the level of argument were at a higher/more substantive level (like using/citing actual data -- published numbers, sales totals, etc.). Why always so anecdotal ? (whereby I include 'three percent' and the like as anecdotal, since no one ever seems to manage to offer supporting evidence for that claim). Why always so wrong ?