One of the most impressive and fascinating accounts of worldwide literary translation is To Be To Translated Or Not To Be, a rich report from International PEN/Instut Ramon Llull on the "international situation of literary translation" and edited by Esther Allen. Sure, it was released in 2007, but I only just read through it all. And it's too good for me to keep quiet -- or to paraphrase it. In a series of posts on Isak this week over the next two weeks, I will share excerpts from the report. If you want to read the full report (highly encouraged), click here for the PDF. See Part I of this series here, Part II here, and Part III here. Part IV is from the chapter on "Six Cases on Literary Translation." This case, on The Netherlands, was written by Bas Pauw, of the Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature.
The Diary of Anne Frank is probably one of the most widely translated books of the world. Dutch philosophers Erasmus and Spinoza are also well-known worldwide, but they wrote in Latin rather than in Dutch. ... It can normally be quoted a number of 45% of translated fiction (published in The Netherlands), related to original fiction.
{…}
It can be said that in the present international climate it is almost impossible for a literary author writing in a smaller language to find an international readership on his or her own strength—without a powerful literary agent, or without an institution that is providing financial support and a certain context, and draws an international readership on his or her own strength—without a powerful literary agent, or without an institution that is providing financial support and a certain context, and draws international attention to the book or the author in the first place.
{…}
But there are a few classical Dutch novels of the twentieth century that would have certainly made their way into world literature, had they been written in English.
Max Havelaar is the classical novel of Dutch literature, written in the late 19th century by Multatuli. Set in former Dutch colony Indonesia, it is a fierce indictment of Dutch colonial politics. It is also a thoroughly modern novel, that has changed the shape of the Dutch novel drastically. Although published in Penguin Classics, it has never received the international acclaim it deserves.
Comments