As I've often noted, the South-East Asian languages are among the worst-represented in translation (especially into English).
In Viet Nam they apparently have been holding an international conference -- "attended by the local literati and over 150 international poets, authors, and translators from 43 countries and territories" -- trying, in part, to figure out what can be done about the situation.
Coverage can be found in:
- Bringing Vietnamese literature to the world -- a long way to go (tuoitrenews.vn)
- Int'l experience in promoting Vietnamese literature (Vietnamnet)
- Vietnamese literature needs global exposure (Asia One)
Kazakhstani writer Bakhitkozha Rustemov stressed that a joint effort from the Government and relevant sectors and agencies, as well as national and ministry-level cooperation agreements, are needed.Ah, yes, relying on 'national and ministry-level cooperation agreements', that's the ticket .....
Of course, there are some ... positive (?) observations: sure, Russian interest and activity is down since Soviet times, but, hey:
As many as 6 books by Vietnamese authors are scheduled to be published in Russian by 2016.Compare that to the US: the Three Percent database lists all of one work of Vietnamese fiction published in translation in all of 2014 -- Ticket to Childhood by Nguyen Nhat Anh (not, I'm afraid, a front-runner for the Best Translated Book Award) -- and none at all so far on the (admittedly still incomplete) 2015 database.
Still, at least they seem to be trying to address the issue(s), and looking for ways to get the word/books out. Which seems more than local laggards Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia have managed to date ..... Read the rest of this post Add a Comment