Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators in 'Peripheral' Cultures: Customs Officers or Smugglers? (New Comparisons in World Literature)

"This book sets the grounds for a new approach exploring cultural mediators as key figures in literary and cultural history. It proposes an innovative conceptual and methodological understanding of the figure of the cultural mediator, defined as a cultural actor active across linguistic, cultural and geographical borders, occupying strategic positions within large networks and being the carrier of cultural transfer. Many studies on translation and cultural mediation privileged the major metropolis of Paris, London, and New York as centres of cultural production and translation. However, other cities and megacities that are not global centres of culture also feature vibrant translation scenes. This book abandons the focus on 'innovative' centres and 'imitative' peripheries and follows processes of cultural exchange as they develop. Thus, it analyses the role of cultural mediators as customs officers or smugglers (or both in different proportions) in so-called 'peripheral' cultures and offers insights into an under-analysed body of actors and institutions promoting intercultural transfer in often multilingual and less studied venues such as Trieste, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, Lima, Lahore, or Cape Town."-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 Notes on Contributors 10 List of Figures 16 List of Tables 17 Chapter 1 General Introduction. Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators. Toward an Agent and Process-Oriented Approach 18 1 Introduction 18 2 State-of-the-Art Overview 24 3 Toward an Agent and Process-Oriented Interdisciplinary Approach 29 4 Conclusion 40 Bibliography 48 Part I Mediators 55 Chapter 2 Early Institutionalised Promotion of Translation and the Socio-Biography of Emil Walter, Translator, Press Attaché and Diplomat 56 Abbreviations 56 1 Introduction 57 2 Emil Walter’s Socio-biography 58 3 From Translator and Cultural Mediator to Press Attaché 60 4 Unilateral Promotion of Translation 62 5 Bilateral Promotion of Translation 66 6 Multilateral Promotion of Translation 71 7 The Habitus as a Translator, Cultural Mediator and Diplomat 74 References 81 Chapter 3 Edoardo Weiss, A Triestine Translating Freud 84 1 Introduction 84 2 The Years of Psychoanalysis 86 3 Freudian Interferences 90 4 The Conflict with Levi Bianchini 91 5 The Figure of Bruno Veneziani 93 6 Multilingual Moments in Svevo and Weiss 94 7 Id-Es 96 References 101 Chapter 4 Spanish Discovers Yiddish: The Cultural Policies of Salomon Resnick in Argentina in the Interwar Period 106 1 Introduction 106 2 Translation and Publishing in the Jewish Babel Tower 108 3 The Printed Word, Translation and Cultural Continuity 111 4 Salomon Resnick as a Cultural Mediator 116 5 Conclusion 122 References 125 Chapter 5 Xiaoshuo yuebao (1921–1931) as a Cultural Mediator of Small Literatures in China 127 1 Introduction 127 2 Translation in Literary Journals During the Early Republican Period 129 2.1 Social Changes and the Literary Revolution 129 2.2 Reform of Xiaoshuo yuebao and Its Editors 130 3 Xiaoshuo yuebao as an Intersection of Networks 135 4 Why was Xiaoshuo yuebao a Cultural Mediator of Small Literatures in China? 137 4.1 From “The Oppressed, Injured, Small and Weak” to “World Literature”: Consolidation of a Translation Pattern 137 4.2 Obscured Diversity 143 4.3 Indirect Translation and the Establishment of Translation Norms 148 4.4 The Case of Blasco Ibáñez and Visibility of Spanish Literature in China 153 5 Conclusion 157 References 163 Chapter 6 Mashal Books as Cultural Mediator: Translating East Asian, Middle Eastern, and African Literatures into Urdu in Lahore 170 1 Introduction 170 2 Mashal Books 172 3 Mashal’s Fiction List and World Literature 173 4 Fiction, Health, and Paratexts 174 5 Smuggling Content 177 6 Conclusion 184 Appendix 1—Translated Fiction Engaging with Health Published by Mashal Books 192 Appendix 2—Other Topics Addressed in Mashal’s Translated Fiction 194 References 194 Chapter 7 Politics of Translation: How States Shape Cultural Transfers 196 1 Introduction 196 2 Translations from Dutch and Flemish 199 3 From the Construction of National Identity to Market Logic: The ITHL 207 4 Conclusion 215 References 218 Part II Mediation Processes 222 Chapter 8 From a Slave to a Translator: Conflicts and Mediation in Fatma-Zaïda’s Translation of the Quran 223 1 Introduction 223 2 Reading the Paratexts 225 2.1 Key Elements in the Title Page 225 2.2 The Preface 228 3 Zaïda’s Translation Strategies 231 4 The Rights of Muslim Women 238 5 Conclusion 243 References 245 Chapter 9 Mediating Flemish Folk Songs Across Cultural Borders During the Nineteenth Century: From Patrimonial Monuments to Musical Propaganda 247 1 Introduction 247 2 A Focus on Translation and Transfer 249 3 Early German and Flemish Collectors: Von Fallersleben, Willems and Snellaert 252 3.1 August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben 253 3.2 Jan Frans Willems 254 4 French Anthologists: Edmond de Coussemaker, Allies and Opponents 258 5 A French Focus on Music: Victor Wilder 264 6 Ernest Closson: An Intra-Belgian Mediator? 266 7 Conclusion 268 References 271 Chapter 10 From Binarity to Complexity: A Latourian Perspective on Cultural Mediators the Case of Georges Eekhoud’s Intra-National Activities 275 1 Introduction 275 2 The Actor-Network of Cultural Mediators. Method and Case Study 277 2.1 Versatility, Collectivity and Networks: Following Actors 279 2.2 Exchanges and Overlaps: Reconstructing Transfer Chains 284 2.3 Transformation and Boundaries: Deploying Controversy 287 3 Conclusion 292 References 298 Chapter 11 Moving “Out of the Laager” and “Betraying the Tribe”: André Brink as Cultural Mediator 302 1 Introduction 302 2 Cultural Transfer and Cultural Mediators 304 3 Moving “Out of the Laager”: Brink’s Literary Activities from the 1950s to 1972 308 4 From Censorship to Self-Translation and Bilingual Writing: Brink’s Literary Activities from 1973 to 2012 316 5 Conclusion 322 List of Brink’s Works Referred To 325 Chapter 12 “Let’s Make Peru Peruvian Again”: Cultural Mediators and Indigenous Literature 329 1 Introduction 329 2 Theoretical Perspectives on and Within Latin America 330 3 José María Arguedas or the Problem of Transculturation 335 4 Gamaliel Churata: Diving into the Indigenous 342 5 Mediation in the Twenty-First Century 349 6 The Question of Indigenous Writing: Future Perspectives and Final Thoughts 351 References 355 Index 358 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii General Introduction. Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators. Toward an Agent and Process-Oriented Approach (Diana Roig-Sanz, Reine Meylaerts)....Pages 1-37 Front Matter ....Pages 39-39 Early Institutionalised Promotion of Translation and the Socio-Biography of Emil Walter, Translator, Press Attaché and Diplomat (Ondřej Vimr)....Pages 41-68 Edoardo Weiss, A Triestine Translating Freud (Sherry Simon)....Pages 69-90 Spanish Discovers Yiddish: The Cultural Policies of Salomon Resnick in Argentina in the Interwar Period (Alejandro Dujovne)....Pages 91-111 Xiaoshuo yuebao (1921–1931) as a Cultural Mediator of Small Literatures in China (Yehua Chen)....Pages 113-155 Mashal Books as Cultural Mediator: Translating East Asian, Middle Eastern, and African Literatures into Urdu in Lahore (Karen Thornber)....Pages 157-182 Politics of Translation: How States Shape Cultural Transfers (Johan Heilbron, Gisèle Sapiro)....Pages 183-208 Front Matter ....Pages 209-209 From a Slave to a Translator: Conflicts and Mediation in Fatma-Zaïda’s Translation of the Quran (Rim Hassen)....Pages 211-234 Mediating Flemish Folk Songs Across Cultural Borders During the Nineteenth Century: From Patrimonial Monuments to Musical Propaganda (Lieven D’hulst)....Pages 235-262 From Binarity to Complexity: A Latourian Perspective on Cultural Mediators the Case of Georges Eekhoud’s Intra-National Activities (Maud Gonne)....Pages 263-289 Moving “Out of the Laager” and “Betraying the Tribe”: André Brink as Cultural Mediator (Lelanie De Roubaix)....Pages 291-317 “Let’s Make Peru Peruvian Again”: Cultural Mediators and Indigenous Literature (Helena Usandizaga)....Pages 319-347 Back Matter ....Pages 349-373