Selling Hungarian Fiction in Translation : Agency and Process

Abstract

This article focuses on the publication of Hungarian fiction in translation, with a special consideration of English as a TL. I argue that the mediation of Hungarian literature, a supply-driven activity, is an interactive social event influenced by factors including power, dominance and economics. I identify the social networks and review the institutional background as well as the process of the selection, translation and publication of Hungarian fiction. I discuss the role of various actors in the mediation of Hungarian literature: Hungarian publishers and literary agents; TL publishers; and translators from Hungarian into English. Besides doing research and conducting interviews with people involved in the mediation of Hungarian literature, I also reflect on my own role as an actor in the field, especially on my experience as foreign rights director of a Budapest-based publisher of literary fiction. While I point out some of the challenges of the mediation of Hungarian literature, from unstable cultural policies, through lack of proper representation, to difficulties faced by translators and foreign publishers, I also stress that, in spite of these challenges, Hungarian literature has a surprisingly strong international presence. I inquire into thereasons why foreign publishers choose to publish Hungarian literature, and why certain works have been particularly successful in translation.