Martin Ringmar

Confusion in diffusion: Translating less translated languages?

What is meant by “languages of limited diffusion” (LLD)? If translation is part of the definition it seems to equal “(source) languages with limited export”. If it is not, what criteria are? In a survey (2011), Literature Across Frontiers defines LLD as “generally not spoken beyond their territory and not learned as a language of communication”. Nevertheless, the survey labels widely spoken languages like Chinese, Russian, and Arabic as LLD precisely because they cause publishers problems in translation. In such cases, the concept “of limited diffusion” seems abstruse and might be replaced by “less translated”. In interpreting, on the other hand, LLD are often understood as minority or indigenous languages; cf. Mikkelson (1999) who contrasts LLD as Navajo or Mixtec with “major languages such as Spanish, Arabic, and Russian”. (Cf. also the supercentral languages in “The World Language System” (de Swaan 2001), which again in some cases, e.g. Chinese, are peripheral in “The Global Translation System” (Heilbron 1996).)

According to Index Translationum, Polish, Norwegian, and Chinese occupy positions 14-16 on the global SL-list with some 14000 translations each. Translations apart, these are obviously languages of very unequal diffusion (with respect to size, economic strength, diasporas, etc.). In fact, Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages rank remarkably high as SLs in relation to their otherwise limited diffusion (e.g. in numbers of speakers); a “success story” which is partly due to intense mutual – i.e. inter-Scandinavian – translation (Ringmar 2015).

Another aspect worth considering is translation as resistance to diffusion. Today, publishers in Scandinavia rush translations of English-language bestsellers (e.g. Dan Brown) in order to fend off competition from the original. In so doing they obviously limit the diffusion of English (although their main rationale is economic).

References

Heilbron, Johan. 1996. “Traductions et échanges culturels”. In: Donald Broady et al. (ed.): Formation des élites et culture transnationale. Uppsala: ILU (pp. 337–349).

Index Translationum: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=7810&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html [accessed January 2018]

Literature Across Frontiers. 2011. “Publishing Translations in Europe. Survey of Publishers”. Prepared by Budapest Observatory. Available on:

https://www.lit-across-frontiers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Publishing-Translations-in-Europe-%E2%80%93-Survey-of-Publishers-2011.pdf [accessed January 2018]

Mikkelson, Holly. 1999. “Relay Interpreting: A Solution for Languages of Limited Diffusion?” The Translator, Vol. 5, No. 2. Available on:

https://acebo.myshopify.com/pages/relay-interpreting-a-solution-for-languages-of-limited-diffusion [accessed January 2018]

Ringmar, Martin. 2015. “Figuring out the local within the global – (sub)systems and indirect translation”. IberoSlavica 2015 (pp. 153-172). Available on:

https://issuu.com/clepul/docs/iberoslavica_special_issue [accessed January 2018]

Swaan, Abram de. 2001. Words of the World. The Global Language System. Cambridge: Polity.

Martin Ringmar has worked as a journalist, translator and teacher. He holds a BA in Icelandic and Finnish 1993 (University of Iceland) and a MA in Scandinavian languages 2003 (University of Umeå), and he is about to finish a PhD-thesis on the Nordic translations of Halldór Laxness’s novel Salka Valka at the University of Lund. He has written several articles on indirect (relay) translation and on translation exchange between peripheries, as well as biographical articles for Svenskt översättarlexikon (‘Swedish Translators’ dictionary’). He has been a Swedish lecturer in Riga (Latvia), Rennes (France) and is at present working at Univerzita Komenského in Bratislava (Slovakia) where he apart from Swedish also teaches Icelandic.