Theoretical challenges in the translation of books: historical and sociological approaches to the translation of books in Argentina

GUSTAVO SORÁ

París

Congreso; Languages of the book. SHARP bi-annual meeting; 2016

Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing

For a decade, studies on book publishing have expanded to encompass the phenomenon of translation. While substantial empirical and theoretical contributions have already been made, especially from sociological perspectives, this is an issue still under development. The translation of books is a powerful indicator of the structures of and constraints on the circulation of ideas. Among other working hypothesis, we should look at the fact that the dynamics of exchange between linguistic areas and different markets of symbolic goods can only be understood from systemic and transnational views that go beyond the traditional binary of comparative approaches. Only then, the hierarchical structure of the world system of translation is revealed, in addition to the unequal power of national languages and markets for international legitimacy of the printed word, and to the obstacles and manipulations of the exchanges involved in the translation of books. In this paper I will explore these hypotheses from data gathered in historical and sociological studies into the translation of books in Argentina. I will refer, on the one hand, to relations between markets and peripheral languages: translation of Brazilian authors in Argentina, and, on the other hand, I will explore relations between central and peripheral areas: the translation, in Argentina, of French, English and Italian authors within Social and Human Sciences.