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Η άποψη της μεταφράστριας του Μο Γιαν Anna Gustafsson Chen για το θέμα που δημιουργήθηκε με τον Göran Malmqvist (βλ. παραπάνω #454). Έχει ενδιαφέρον και για μια φευγαλέα εικόνα της αγοράς του μεταφρασμένου λογοτεχνικού βιβλίου στη Σουηδία:
1. When the Swedish Academy¹s Nobel Committee is interested in a certain author they will start by reading those of his/her works that are available in translation into a language that the Committee members can read. That would mean Swedish, English, French, German and possibly some other European languages. If the Committee needs more materials they can engage a translator to translate for them. This is done under secrecy, of course.
2. In this case, the Nobel Committee asked Göran Malmqvist to translate a number of essays and short stories for them. Since he is a member of the Academy as well as an acclaimed translator this is by no means odd this way they could get a very good translation to read and at the same time diminish the risk that outsiders would know what they were working with. It is important to remember that Malmqvist made his translations on request from the Nobel Committee once they were already interested in Mo Yan and had read most of his earlier translated works.
3. Malmqvist cannot himself decide who will be awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Committee consists of five Academy members, and Malmqvist is not one of them. He can promote a candidate that he likes, but so can all the other Academy members. And in the end, he has only one vote, just like all the others.
4. If Malmqvist would have wanted to promote a certain writer for his own personal gain, he would not likely have chosen Mo Yan, whose works he never translated before. He would have gained much more if either Bei Dao, Li Rui or Cao Naiqian had been awarded the Nobel Prize.
5. As for translators, no translator has exclusive rights to a certain author. There exists a sort of gentleman¹s agreement among Swedish translators if your colleague has worked with an author for a long time you don¹t snatch that author away from under that translator¹s nose once the author becomes famous. For this reason, some people in Sweden have criticized Malmqvist and claimed that it¹s unfair of him to act the way he has. My point of view is that since he already translated these essays and short stories it would be a pity if nobody could read them. Better to publish them than to let them rot away in his computer.
6. The Academy¹s Permanent Secretary, Peter Englund, has told the press that Malmqvist will give his translations to the publisher for free. This way, he won¹t gain financially. Of course, some people then criticized this decision as well, saying that Malmqvist would dump the market for other translators of Chinese literature. Since I am basically the only other active translator from Chinese to Swedish and since the publishing house (the same one) didn¹t pay one cent out of its own coffers for my translation of Life and Death are Wearing Me Out (I did that job on a scholarship from elsewhere) I¹d say the market is pretty dumped as it is. Translating Chinese literature into Swedish is not something you can make money from.
7. In short: knowing Malmqvist, I don¹t suspect for one moment that he promoted Mo Yan for his own personal gain. I do think, however, that he needs some media training and that he needs to realize that you should nevernevernever send e-mails when you¹re upset.
1. When the Swedish Academy¹s Nobel Committee is interested in a certain author they will start by reading those of his/her works that are available in translation into a language that the Committee members can read. That would mean Swedish, English, French, German and possibly some other European languages. If the Committee needs more materials they can engage a translator to translate for them. This is done under secrecy, of course.
2. In this case, the Nobel Committee asked Göran Malmqvist to translate a number of essays and short stories for them. Since he is a member of the Academy as well as an acclaimed translator this is by no means odd this way they could get a very good translation to read and at the same time diminish the risk that outsiders would know what they were working with. It is important to remember that Malmqvist made his translations on request from the Nobel Committee once they were already interested in Mo Yan and had read most of his earlier translated works.
3. Malmqvist cannot himself decide who will be awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Committee consists of five Academy members, and Malmqvist is not one of them. He can promote a candidate that he likes, but so can all the other Academy members. And in the end, he has only one vote, just like all the others.
4. If Malmqvist would have wanted to promote a certain writer for his own personal gain, he would not likely have chosen Mo Yan, whose works he never translated before. He would have gained much more if either Bei Dao, Li Rui or Cao Naiqian had been awarded the Nobel Prize.
5. As for translators, no translator has exclusive rights to a certain author. There exists a sort of gentleman¹s agreement among Swedish translators if your colleague has worked with an author for a long time you don¹t snatch that author away from under that translator¹s nose once the author becomes famous. For this reason, some people in Sweden have criticized Malmqvist and claimed that it¹s unfair of him to act the way he has. My point of view is that since he already translated these essays and short stories it would be a pity if nobody could read them. Better to publish them than to let them rot away in his computer.
6. The Academy¹s Permanent Secretary, Peter Englund, has told the press that Malmqvist will give his translations to the publisher for free. This way, he won¹t gain financially. Of course, some people then criticized this decision as well, saying that Malmqvist would dump the market for other translators of Chinese literature. Since I am basically the only other active translator from Chinese to Swedish and since the publishing house (the same one) didn¹t pay one cent out of its own coffers for my translation of Life and Death are Wearing Me Out (I did that job on a scholarship from elsewhere) I¹d say the market is pretty dumped as it is. Translating Chinese literature into Swedish is not something you can make money from.
7. In short: knowing Malmqvist, I don¹t suspect for one moment that he promoted Mo Yan for his own personal gain. I do think, however, that he needs some media training and that he needs to realize that you should nevernevernever send e-mails when you¹re upset.
