a third of all literary works published are in translation. Compare this to our paltry output here in the States. One of the reasons Anne-Sophie cites for this difference is the dedication of many French houses to employing foreign language editors. Actes Sud is cited as a prime example of this attitude, which, it’s implied, isn’t all that prevalent in the United States.
Another reason for the high number of translations published in France is the fact that the Centre National du Livre (CNL) finances 50%-60% of the total price of the translation. Presumably, a French publisher can get this money in addition to subsidies from other foreign governments, thus offsetting a significant portion of the total costs. This kind of support can go a long way . . .
One of the interesting statistics in this article is in regards to the exchange of rights:
According to the 2004 National Publishing Union (SNE) external statistics, the number of titles sold had risen to 6,077, of which almost two thirds (1,817) were works of literature. A comparison of the purchases and sales of rights for 2004 speaks for itself: France sells far more literature than it buys, at the rate of 1 title bought for 4.2 titles sold.
I can only imagine what this ratio is for U.S. publishers. Much worse than 1:4.2 though, I’m sure.
However, that balance is reversed when it comes to English-speaking countries. Indeed, for 240 English titles bought, only 90 French titles were sold in 2004, with the same figures for the United Kingdom and the United States (42 titles each).
This is much more balanced than most countries, a position that Anne-Sophie goes on to point out:
In the United States, even if the trade balance is unfavorable to France and there are still great efforts to be made, French publishing production is in a good position, with 0.8% of the total American production, of which 2.8% are translated works. In other words, about 30% of the works in translation in the United States are from French language sources.
Not sure where these statistics come from, but the 2008 Translation Database paints a slightly different picture. Of the 175 original translations currently listed, 25 (or 14%) are translated from the French.
Still, 25 original translations is far and away the most from any given language (Spanish is in second with 18, then Arabic with 17, German with 16, and Russian with 12). This is due in part to an historical interest in French writing, but also because of the variety of activities undertaken in the States to support French literature. Here’s a short list:
• French Publisher’s Agency (BIEF) is an organization in New York that acts a rights agency for a group of French publishers.
• The aforementioned CNL also supports publishers interested in translating French texts. Usually this support is between 20%-50% of the cost of the translation.
• Hemingway Grants are awarded to American publishers for books not receiving support from the CNL. These grants are between 1,000 and 6,000 dollars.
• In addition to funding publishers, CNL occasionally awards grants to translators, and also awards scholarships for foreign translators to spend time in France to complete a project.
• French Book News contains a slew of information on French fiction and nonfiction, information on grants, translators. Updated frequently, this is a great resource for finding out about what’s going on in French literature.
• French Voices is a new program that was started by Fabrice Rozie to promote the US publication of contemporary French titles. The goal is that by the end of 2008, 30 books—both fiction and non—published in France after 2000, would be published by American presses. The titles in this program are selected by a committee of French and American industry professionals and publishers publishing these titles receive $6,000 to offset translation fees. Books in the series will feature a logo designed by French artist Serge Bloch as a way of branding the series. Information about the program is available here including information about all eleven titles that have been included in the series so far.
• Finally, the Book Service of the French Embassy in New York also tours a number of French authors throughout America every year, which also helps increase awareness of contemporary French authors.
Quite an impressive list of activities, and this isn’t even everything. French Cultural Services also sponsors a lot of events, readings, panel discussions every year, often in collaboration with the French-American Foundation, which helps strengthen ties between the two countries and gives out the annual Florence Gould Translation Award for the best translation of a French literary work into English.
The Nature of Counting, or, the Numbers Racket
I stole the title for this post from an e-mail Eliot Weinberger sent me that points out a huge discrepancy between the name of this blog and the list of January 2008 translations.
As stated on our about us page, a number of studies—from the NEA, Bowker, etc.—have concluded that approx. 3% of all books published in the United States are in translation.
As Eliot pointed out, if that figure is accurate, I missed some 300+ books on the list this month . . . And this is using a conservative figure of 180,000 titles published in the U.S. According to the latest Bowker report, almost 300,000 books were published here in 2006.
In other words, the 18 translations I’m listing for January (including poetry and literary nonfiction) is less than 0.3% of the total output in the U.S. . . .
These figures do need to be parsed a bit, but even with a few qualifications and explanations, I think the results are pretty interesting.
First off, we’re really only tracking original translations of adult fiction, poetry, and some literary nonfiction. Some academic books are slipping through the cracks, and kids books have been totally excluded. (Really, there’s only so much time—if someone else wanted to provide this info, we could incorporate it.)
Also, I’m excluding re-translations and reprints of books that were previously published in the States, both of which are counted (I believe) in Bowker’s figures. Even so, I think that wouldn’t change my numbers all that much. A few Dalkey and NYRB titles added to the mix, but on the whole, over the year, this is a pretty small addition.
In terms of Bowker’s figures, the report above states that in 2006, 42,076 new works of adult fiction were published. So rather than base our percentages off the astronomical 180,000 or 300,000, it makes a lot more sense—to me at least—to focus on this number and just our fiction list.
(I’m willing to go out on a limb and state that I think this number should be representative of the whole and close to 3%. I can’t think of another category—history? cookbooks?—where the percentage of translations published would far exceed 3% and make up for any discrepancy. Unless Bowker counts language textbooks as translations or something wacky like that . . .)
So, there are approximately 3,500 new titles of adult fiction published every month. For January through March, I’ve counted 31 titles so far. Assuming I missed a bunch and we bump this up to 40 new translations, that’s still only 0.4% of all adult fiction published in the U.S.—less than half of the figure cited on our about us page, and nowhere near the oft-cited 3% figure.
Per Eliot’s suggestion, I think we should add an asterisk to our name . . .
Part of the reason for starting our monthly list was to try and get some more accurate data about the number of translations published in the States. Sure, it’ll never be 100% correct, but by the
