Most of the readers of this blog come from three English-speaking countries—the U. S. A., Australia, and the United Kingdom (in that order).
However, since there have been substantial numbers of visitors from over 40 countries, I have to assume English is read in many places where it isn’t generally spoken.
I wonder, often, about blogs published in other languages, and their readers…
How often is something written in, let’s say, Finnish, read in countries other than Finland?
My main question today, however, is how often do English-speaking readers read books translated from other languages?
A bit of insight could be gained from reading an article from the U.K.’s The Independent—Novel Translation Lets Us Know What Is Really Happening In The World.
Here are a few excerpts:
“Those millions of Britons who refuse to learn any other language always console themselves with a favourite fantasy. The British, they believe, speak the world’s chosen tongue as their birthright. They have won the lottery of globalised life.”
“In fact, they grow up speaking a rich, resourceful but ever-more parochial provincial dialect.”
“…we can at least honour and reward the arts of translation that deliver the world to our doorstep.”
“If many of us won’t learn other tongues, we can in any case cherish and applaud the art of the interpreters who rescue us from the loneliness of the ‘anglosphere’.”
“In the UK, the proportion of literary fiction published in translation has crept up from the oft-quoted 3 per cent to something nearer 5 per cent. Since the entire output of British publishers has expanded crazily, that modest growth hides the good news that total numbers of translations have expanded by almost two-thirds.”
But, that’s only the U.K.
What about Australia?
What about the United States?
And, especially to the folks out there who are reading this in a non-English-speaking country, are the books in your native tongue being translated into English?
And, what percentage of books written in English are translated into other languages—and, how many other languages?
I suppose I could do some research; but, I’m going to keep wondering and hoping that a few of my readers will share what they know in the Comments :-)
Also, you may be interested in checking out my past post, Readers Educated About Reading Translations.
Finally, because most of my readers live in English-speaking countries (and a substantial number of readers in non-English-speaking countries continue to visit), I’ll share the link to an article on CounterPunch—100 Best Novels, in Translation, Since 1900.
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Read Some Strange Fantasies
Grab A Free Novel…
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