Lost in translation: America’s deficit of translated books

I recently finished reading The Alchemist (aff link) for a book club I belong to. I must admit, at first the book didn’t excite me very much. Even the first chapter or two dragged. But after that, I became engrossed in the story and I ended up liking the book enough to recommend here. That is hardly the point of this post, however.

The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese, and then translated into many languages, including English. It’s probably one of those rare gems in the US publishing industry that a translated book becomes such a big hit. I have never been averse to reading translated works of literature (maybe with the exception of poetry, but that’s another post for another day). But I often wonder what has been lost in the translation process. Perhaps many Americans feel this way, which is why we (as a country) don’t read that many translated books. Maybe the issue is much more complicated than that.

On Sunday, while reading the New York Times (online, of course), I came across this article about the lack of translated books from foreign authors in the American publishing industry. It’s actually a deficit that is hurting Americans more and more as the world becomes more connected through travel and technology. Yes, there are world-class authors right here in the United States and world-class books are being published, in English, every year. But we (Americans) are still missing out on the larger picture of world literary discourse.

The article jumps right in and gives a fairly weak reason for our lack of foreign translated books, that Americans generally don’t like authors who write books in languages other than English. And this is reflected in the penchant for American publishers to not buy the rights to works that are non-English.

America’s lack of international books hasn’t gone unnoticed on the world stage, and not without some controversy:

That apparent dearth of literature in translation in the United States was the subject of controversial remarks by Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, the organization that awards the Nobel Prize, a week before the prize did not go to an American.

"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular," Mr. Engdahl said in an interview with The Associated Press. "They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature."

Ouch! That’s a pretty stinging criticism coming from a man who works for the organization responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize. America does have a history of shunning most things European and preferring to stick to our own culture, even when it means isolating ourselves from the rest of the world.

But there are other issues at play here. The article does make it apparent that one reason for America’s lack of translated books is the risk involved. The risk that the book will flop here in the US (isn’t that a risk taken by publishers of domestically written books as well?). However, the cost of taking that risk can seem like a bargain:

"When you look at how much is paid for a mediocre midlist author" in the United States, he said, "and how much you have to pay to get a world-class author who has been translated into 18 languages, it is ridiculous that more people don’t invest in buying great literature." Mr. Godine said he had purchased the rights to a foreign book for as little as $2,000.

$2000 plus the cost of translation (in some cases) is a drop in the bucket compared to what the rights to an American bestseller costs. And if the translated book becomes a hit in the US? The publisher will certainly recoup their investment plus a tidy profit.

I’m not going to regurgitate the entire article in this post, I’d rather have you read it for yourself and make your own judgments. I’m guessing, however, that there’s probably an entire niche market of literature waiting to be exploited here. While translated works are never as rich as the original language, they can still be just as compelling. I totally forget The Alchemist was a translated book while reading it as I became more and more engrossed in the story.

Ebook Potential?

Perhaps translated books might make good candidates for publishing in ebook format. It lessens the risk by avoiding the often expensive costs associated with printing, stocking and shipping. And if the book becomes popular as an ebook, then it has the legs to grow in print as well.

Will someone out there exploit this dry market and buy up the rights to foreign books that need to be translated into English? Whether they are published in the traditional print formats or as ebooks hardly makes a difference at this point. Once Americans see the quality of literature being produced around the world, I’m sure the distaste for translated books will quickly leave our collective mouths.

What do you think? Do you read books that have been translated into English? Is this market under-represented and ripe for an awakening? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Don’t be shy!

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