BOOKS ACROSS BORDERS: GERMAN-ENGLISH LITERARY TRANSLATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY GERMAN AND ANGLO-AMERICAN CONTEXTS BY SALLY-ANN SPENCER A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2015 1 Acknowledgements This thesis could not have been written without the support of a great many people. First and last, it is dedicated to Simon, who provided constant encouragement and faith. Dr. Richard Millington and Associate Professor Jean Anderson accompanied me on the journey from the start, from near and further away, and I am deeply grateful to them both. Thank you to Gillian, Victor and Pamela, and to Victoria University of Wellington for enabling me to undertake this study. 2 Abstract This thesis examines discourses and practices surrounding German-English translated books in the contemporary German and Anglo-American contexts, focusing on works published as trade fiction. It thereby provides the chronological extension to an existing line of studies that evaluate the production and reception of German-English literary translations in the second half of the twentieth century: notably, the survey volumes by Uta Kreuter (1985), Mark Rectanus (1990a) and, more recently, Wiebke Sievers (2007) who concludes her assessment period in 1999. Continuing the investigation into the twenty-first century, the present thesis combines research into new developments in selected focal territories – Germany, the UK and US – with an enquiry into the contemporary relevance of political and other borders in the circulation of German-English translated books. It thus offers an up-to-date account of activities for German-English translation in these territories; at the same time, it contributes to sociologically oriented scholarship on a methodological and theoretical level. The period under consideration is notable in two key respects. First, it coincides with technological innovations that are transforming the book business and calling into question existing communications paradigms (Bhaskar 2013). Assessing the impact of these innovations, the thesis examines changing licensing, publishing and retail practices for German-English translated books and evaluates the role of institutional and other frameworks in the circulation of literary products and texts. Second, activities for the translation of literature in the UK and US have proliferated since the early 2000s, indicating a need to move beyond Lawrence Venuti’s diagnosis of an Anglo-American disregard for translated literature (1995), which provides the backdrop for Sievers’s account of German-English translation in the UK (2007). Accordingly, the thesis considers German-English translated books in the context of this upsurge in projects to celebrate translation in the UK and US, and explores the intersection of activities for translation into English with programmes sponsored by intermediaries in Germany to promote the translation of German-language works. The advancement of the thesis through the ‘macro, mezzo and micro’ levels of analysis serves, on the one hand, to illuminate different aspects of German-English literary translation and, on the other, to interrogate models for sociological translation research (Sapiro 2008). The investigation begins with an analysis of accounts of global translation 3 production, revealing deficiencies in proposed mappings of translational activity and highlighting the deployment of statistical data on book translation for polemical or promotional ends. Drawing on original fieldwork and primary sources, it then considers publishing practices and support programmes for German-English translation in the UK and US, and examines the translational fortunes of selected German-language books and their UK and US editions, thereby connecting with current scholarship on the Anglo-American book business (Thompson 2012) and with research in German Studies associated with the ‘transnational’ paradigm (Taberner 2011a). 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................2 Abstract.....................................................................................................................................3 List of Illustrations...................................................................................................................7 List of Abbreviations ...............................................................................................................8 1. Introduction: German-English Translated Books in the Contemporary German and Anglo-American Contexts .....................................................................................................10 1.1 Charting German-English Literary Translation: Scholarly Perspectives........................... 12 1.2 The Present Study: Chapters and Scope................................................................................. 20 1.3 Other Related Studies and Primary Sources.......................................................................... 22 1.4 Approach and Theoretical Considerations............................................................................. 29 1.5 Research Levels and Modes ..................................................................................................... 36 2. Balancing the Books: Translation Statistics, or Global Literature by the Numbers...38 2.1 Making Translation Count(s): The Data ................................................................................ 39 2.2 Heilbron’s ‘World System’ and German/y as ‘Central’ to Global Translation.................. 44 2.3 Germany as a Literary ‘Importland’ and the Deficit in Books Translated From German49 2.4 Reading Translation Statistics: Open and Closed Books ...................................................... 57 2.5 Calculating Translational Imbalances From German/y into English.................................. 62 3. Producing German-English Translated Books for the Anglo-American Market: The Business and Boundaries of Translation Publishing ..........................................................65 3.1 Translated Literature in a ‘Winner-Takes-More Market’: Marginalization ..................... 66 3.2 Championing Translation in a Niche: Translation Support and Technology..................... 71 3.3 And Other Stories Publishing: A Community Enterprise .................................................... 76 3.4 Peirene Press: Hand-Selling Translated Literature in North London................................. 80 3.5 Frisch & Co.: Digital-Only with Suhrkamp ........................................................................... 84 3.6 Contemporary German-English Translation: Beyond the Niche?....................................... 90 4. Prizing New German-Language Novels Across Borders: the Deutscher Buchpreis in Germany, the UK and US......................................................................................................94 4.1 Recommending German-Language Books For Translation Globally ................................. 96 4.2 Translatable Bestsellers At Home............................................................................................ 99 4.3 Buchpreis-winners Abroad: Translatable Novels in English.............................................. 106 4.4 World Literature Translated From German ....................................................................... 112 5. Conclusion: German-English Literary Translation in the Contemporary Anglo- American and German Contexts: From Macro to Micro ................................................114 Appendix: Organizations and Initiatives Supporting German-Language Literature in (English-Language) Translation.........................................................................................121 1. Key Sponsors in the Federal Republic of Germany............................................................... 124 2. Key Programmes for Promoting the Licensing or Publication of Book Translations of German-Language Works in Multiple Languages and Territories ......................................... 135 5 3. Key Institutions and Programmes for German-English Translation in the UK and US ... 143 References .............................................................................................................................160 6 List of Illustrations Figure 1. Translation Rate, New Translations and Licence Sales in/from the German Publishing Industry, 2000-2010 ...................................................................................................................... 52 Figure 2. Translation Rate, New Translations & Licence Sales for Belletristik in/from the German Publishing Industry, 2000-2010 .................................................................................................... 54 Figure 3. Sales of Winning Titles (2005 – 2012) Immediately Before and Two Months After the Award of the Prize ...................................................................................................................... 102 Figure 4. Performance of Winning Titles (2005 – 2014) in the Spiegel Bestseller Charts................. 104 Figure 5. Breakdown of Titles by Language of Origin in the Annual Spiegel Bestseller Lists.......... 105 Figure 6. Foreign Rights Sales By Language For Buchpreis-winning Titles 2005 – 2012 ................ 107 Figure 7. Buchpreis-winning Novels and German-English