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Abstract
Latvia’s brief period of independence (1918/20–1940) saw book publishing on a massive scale. The range of source languages was growing, with English slightly ahead of German in the prewar years (German was the main intermediary language), followed by French and Russian. The literature translated was extremely varied in kind and quality: the choice of works to be translated was very much in the hands of translators and publishers. With the advent of cheap books, print runs grew longer and high-quality literature became accessible to a wider public. The share of translations among books fluctuated, although there were consistently more translated novels than domestically produced fiction. A large number of translators were also well-known writers in their native Latvian. Members of other professions frequently produced specialised translations and some individuals became professional translators from favourite source languages. Translator visibility grew with the status of the works translated. Translation criticism remained limited, mainly focusing on the quality of the Latvian, and lambasting pulp-literature translation in general.
Highlights
The translation scene during the independence period (1918/20–1940) has been largely neglected in Translation Studies, the literary connections with Baltic, Swedish and German sources have been explored (Latvieši 2008, Stepiņš 1983, Kalnačs 2005)
There are some general studies of the literary scene in Latvia during this period, mostly statistical and focusing on original literature and publishers (Grāmata 1999)
Translators were often better informed about literary trends than publishers, and Germany often served as a model: what was translated there was soon translated into Latvian
Summary
Latvia’s brief period of independence (1918/20–1940) saw book publishing on a massive scale. The literature translated was extremely varied in kind and quality: the choice of works to be translated was very much in the hands of translators and publishers. With the advent of cheap books, print runs grew longer and high-quality literature became accessible to a wider public. The share of translations among books fluctuated, there were consistently more translated novels than domestically produced fiction. A large number of translators were well-known writers in their native Latvian. Members of other professions frequently produced specialised translations and some individuals became professional translators from favourite source languages. Translator visibility grew with the status of the works translated. Translation criticism remained limited, mainly focusing on the quality of the Latvian, and lambasting pulp-literature translation in general
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