Translation and Globalisation : A report for the UN

In October 2006, International PEN will present a report on literary translation, Translation and Globalisation, to the United Nations. Both Sydney PEN and Melbourne PEN have contributed findings on the state of literary translation in Australia today. Katja Gaskell talks to Sydney PEN Translation Committee Chair, Chip Rolley, about the Australian report.

"The report is based on some disturbing statistics, a minimal two to three per cent of books published in the US and the UK are translations of works from other languages," explains Chip Rolley. "Given that the US and UK are the dominant Anglophone countries, it gives you a pretty good idea of what we're being exposed to here in Australia."

The report that International PEN will present before the UN is a combined effort by 12 to 13 PEN centres worldwide to examine the state of literary translation on a national and international scale. The core of the report, however, deals with the lack of translation of foreign literary works into English globally. And it doesn't paint a particularly rosy picture.

"If you compare it to Turkey, 40 per cent of all books published there are books from other languages," explains Chip. "You might expect this because it's a smaller country and how many people actually speak Turkish. But it does give a sense of what's happening in the English-speaking world."

From an international perspective, Sydney PEN hopes that the report's findings will highlight the worryingly low number of foreign works being translated into English at this time of globalisation. On a national level, the translation committee hope that the report will raise awareness to the lack of foreign literary translation by Australian translators and put pressure on the Government for funding.

"The Australian Council has a good track record of getting Australian literature translated into other languages around the world," says Chip. We need to support Australian translators getting funding to translate and publish works here."

"A lot of the translation that gets published (in Australia) is imported from the US or UK so the translators here are not getting work," he continues. "Translators are a great cultural asset for Australia."

The Sydney PEN Translation Committee are dedicated to fighting the corner of the Australian translator. A lack of funding and sometimes even a lack of recognition means that it's a struggle for translators to make a living.

"It's not as if we're making people rich with the kind of funding we're talking about," says Chip. "It's a struggle; it's a big commitment to be a translator. It's not just a matter of being able to speak two languages and hey presto."

One of the ways in which Sydney PEN supports translation is through the NSW Premier's Translation Prize and accompanying PEN Medallion. The biennial prize was proposed by Sydney PEN and is offered by the NSW Government through Arts NSW and the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW. Entrants are judged on a body of work and the prize is offered only to "Australian translators who translate works into English from other languages".

The committee also campaigns to ensure that translators get the recognition they deserve.

"Sometimes translators don't even get credited," explains Chip. "We want to make sure that when a book is reviewed, the translator gets noted. It would read completely differently if someone else had translated it."

The drive for greater translation of foreign literary works is not just about providing work and accreditation to Australian translators however. It's imperative that there is greater access to foreign works if we're to better understand the world in which we live.

"In the age of terrorism that we live in, with increasing suspicion between cultures, it's time we do need a deeper understanding of cultures," says Chip. "And this can be gained by reading great literary works from other cultures."