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Chapter 9. The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts

A case study
  • Duygu Tekgül-Akın
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Translation Flows
This chapter is in the book Translation Flows

Abstract

This study investigates the role of international literary agents in the flow of texts and the network of relations of the global literary market. A major element of agents’ work is interlingual translation, complemented by cultural and intersemiotic translation, as they act as brokers between authors, translators and publishers located in different national contexts. In the case of literary agents promoting lesser-known national literatures abroad, the role of cultural mediation also includes managing the image of nations and cultures. The study explores the acts of translation that international literary agents undertake and commission, as well as acts of image building through such translation. The analysis is based on a case study from Turkey: Kalem Agency, the largest literary agency in the country. The discussion draws on content and discourse analysis based on interviews with the co-founder, Nermin Mollaoğlu, as well as published news items and promotional material produced by Kalem.

Abstract

This study investigates the role of international literary agents in the flow of texts and the network of relations of the global literary market. A major element of agents’ work is interlingual translation, complemented by cultural and intersemiotic translation, as they act as brokers between authors, translators and publishers located in different national contexts. In the case of literary agents promoting lesser-known national literatures abroad, the role of cultural mediation also includes managing the image of nations and cultures. The study explores the acts of translation that international literary agents undertake and commission, as well as acts of image building through such translation. The analysis is based on a case study from Turkey: Kalem Agency, the largest literary agency in the country. The discussion draws on content and discourse analysis based on interviews with the co-founder, Nermin Mollaoğlu, as well as published news items and promotional material produced by Kalem.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Part 1. Historical flows
  5. Chapter 1. A naïve inquiry into translation between Aboriginal languages in pre-Invasion Australia 3
  6. Chapter 2. The circulation of knowledge vs the mobility of translation, or how mobile are translators and translations? 23
  7. Chapter 3. A transatlantic flow of Spanish and Catalan romans-à-clef 43
  8. Chapter 4. Recognition versus redistribution? 69
  9. Chapter 5. From intersection to interculture 87
  10. Part 2. Current flows
  11. Chapter 6. Recirculated, recontextualized, reworked 107
  12. Chapter 7. Nollywood and indigenous language translation flows 129
  13. Chapter 8. Maryse Condé and the Alternative Nobel Prize of 2018 149
  14. Chapter 9. The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts 163
  15. Chapter 10. Flowing to the reception side 183
  16. Chapter 11. The tidalectics of translation 207
  17. Chapter 12. Combining translation policy and imagology 225
  18. Notes on the authors 247
  19. Index 251
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.163.09tek

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Part 1. Historical flows
  5. Chapter 1. A naïve inquiry into translation between Aboriginal languages in pre-Invasion Australia 3
  6. Chapter 2. The circulation of knowledge vs the mobility of translation, or how mobile are translators and translations? 23
  7. Chapter 3. A transatlantic flow of Spanish and Catalan romans-à-clef 43
  8. Chapter 4. Recognition versus redistribution? 69
  9. Chapter 5. From intersection to interculture 87
  10. Part 2. Current flows
  11. Chapter 6. Recirculated, recontextualized, reworked 107
  12. Chapter 7. Nollywood and indigenous language translation flows 129
  13. Chapter 8. Maryse Condé and the Alternative Nobel Prize of 2018 149
  14. Chapter 9. The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts 163
  15. Chapter 10. Flowing to the reception side 183
  16. Chapter 11. The tidalectics of translation 207
  17. Chapter 12. Combining translation policy and imagology 225
  18. Notes on the authors 247
  19. Index 251
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