Institutional desires, individual endeavours: Contemporary Galician narrative in English translation

Abstract

Literary translation is an essential component of international exchanges and cultural diplomacy. For minority and minoritized languages, in particular, it is not only a window to other audiences but also a source of legitimacy among their own readerships. In this sense, governments and institutions often provide funding for translations to counter the difficulties that smaller literatures have to access the competitive global market and avail of its opportunities. This article explores the current state of the internationalization of contemporary Galician narrative to the anglophone world at a moment in which the latter is experiencing a period of increasing openness to translation driven mostly by independent presses. Why is it that, despite the institutional supports in place, most Galician narrative is struggling to find readerships in the English-speaking world?