Translating Cultures

European literatures written in less widely known languages or from less familiar traditions - though not always from numerically 'small' nations - depend on linguistic and cultural translation to be heard by the wider world. The intermediaries who perform this work, however, generally work in parallel and even in competition, divided along linguistic, geographical and professional lines, and rarely have the chance to examine the precise nature and implications of this shared situation. The aim of this project is to understand better the ways in which, through translation, these literatures endeavour to reach the cultural mainstream.

This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under its Translating Cultures theme, and will run from September 2014 to September 2016. The project team consists of researchers in Czech and Slovak, Portuguese, Scandinavian and South Slav literatures from Bristol, Cardiff and UCL.

Our formal project partner is Literature Across Frontiers, a European platform for literary exchange, translation and policy debate based at the Mercator Institute for Media, Languages and Culture, University of Aberystwyth. We also gratefully acknowledge the support and cooperation of The Free Word Centre, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, and the British Library.