Translating New Zealand stories into Spanish: the national imaginary, the canon and the global Spanish-speaking marketplace

Wilson, J. M. (2017) Translating New Zealand stories into Spanish: the national imaginary, the canon and the global Spanish-speaking marketplace. Paper presented to: Islands on Sale: New Zealand and Pacific Arts in the Global Marketplace, Regents University, London, 30 June - 01 July 2017.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract:	This paper addresses the cultural value of the translation and circulation of short stories. Its focus is a translation project aimed at the Spanish marketplace that Paloma Fresno and I embarked on in 2011 (about the time Creative New Zealand inaugurated its new programme of Translation Grants for New Zealand Literature). In 2014 Un país de cuento: Veinte relatos de Nueva Zelanda (“A Country of Tales: 20 Stories from New Zealand”), our selection of New Zealand stories translated by Paloma, was published by the University of Zaragoza Press, and later awarded a translation prize by the Asociación Española de Estudios Anglonorteamericanos (AEDEAN). Our aim was to increase the global reception and appreciation of New Zealand stories by attracting new audiences and readerships in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, despite the difficulty of “selling” the short story as a genre there. I will discuss our principles of selection using categories of gender, ethnicity, region, and date, the issues of translation, the text and its paratexts. I will also reflect on how far the stories in Un País de Cuento represent the changing national imaginary over 100 years and the short story canon as consecrated in Dan Davin’s Classic New Zealand Short Stories (1953), Vincent O’Sullivan’s Oxford Book of New Zealand Short Stories (1978), and Marion McLeod and Bill Manhire’s Some Other Country (2008 [1984]). Other questions are: How has the publication, distribution and dissemination of twenty “classic” stories by a University Press commodified “brand New Zealand” in the literary marketplace? And as the first compilation of Zealand stories in Spanish, and so representing a modest renegotiation of New Zealand’s position in the global cultural sphere even while reflecting the unequal spread and impact of world literature, does this pioneering publication point to any particular model(s) of contemporary cultural production, movement and circulation?
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Translation, New Zealand, social imaginary, short stories, Spanish translation, University of Zaragosa Press
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR8309 English literature: Provincial, local, etc. > PR9639.3 New Zealand literature
Creators:	Wilson, Janet M
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:	University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
Date:	1 July 2017
Date Type:	Publication
Event Title:	Islands on Sale: New Zealand and Pacific Arts in the Global Marketplace
Event Dates:	30 June - 01 July 2017
Event Location:	Regents University, London
Event Type:	Conference
Language:	English
Status:	Published / Disseminated
Refereed:	No
Related URLs:	Conference
URI:	http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/10049

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