Literary Translation Social Network

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I have the idea of using Web Social Networks to enhance translation so clear in my mind that I actually wrote a draft of a project a while ago. Why should I keep that to myself??? I don’t know… After reading the Summary and the recommendations of the Salzburg Global Seminar a while ago I realized that (of course) I’m not the only one thinking about that, so I decided to post it here. I’ll be happy to exchange ideas about that.

Literary Translation Social Network

Social Networking Services appeared together with the raise of the Internet and are booming for some years now. Among the most famous services are Facebook and Myspace. In the recent years several services dedicated to book appeared as well, like LibraryThing, Shelfari and many others. But all the book related networks are created by or focused on the readers, what is really positive. On the other hand, publishers, authors, translators and agents comprise a complex ‘real’ network that haven’t find its place on the web yet. Individual webpages are scattered all around the web, but for instance publishers still have a hard time getting to know authors from “peripheral languages” and to find translators for more “difficult” languages, and authors still struggle to find their way to be translated to other languages.
The use of Internet is growing fast in the regions dominated by the so called peripheral languagesBetween 2000-2008: 1,100% in Africa, 474,4% in Asia, 1,296% in the Middle East and 861% in South America/Caribbean and its use could create more opportunities for authors and translators of languages far from the center of the International System of Book Translations (concept created by Johan Heilbron) to get known and published abroad.
A Social Web Network Service dedicated to literary translation could be a great way of creating a flow of cultural and business exchange. Does not book publishing have a feet in each of these boats? Each one of the actors of the field could create their own profiles with their professional information, a little bit in the way Linkedin works. And they could upload the information they wanted and connections could be made, like translator A translated the book of the author B, or author B is represented by agent C.
The ‘cat’s jump’ (as people say in Portuguese) is that authors could upload parts of their work (a poem, a short story, a chapter…) in order to present themselves. Of course it will be a Babel, because authors would upload their works in their original languages. But then the presence of the translator becomes essential. Literary translators are passionate for they job by nature and they like to translate for the sake of the exercise, specially if their favorite authors. And they already make efforts of translating authors they think are worthwhile, the only thing is that those initiatives are not always known by many people. Besides the best known Words Without Borders, there are several examples loose on the web.
In this network translators could translate the pieces of works uploaded by their favorites authors and this would become sort of a portfolio of the translator and also marketing material for the author. More than one translator could translate the same piece, creating the possibility of less experienced translators to show their skills as well. Publishers could search through this resources and find out new authors and respective translators. It’s a win-win situation for all parts involved. Literary agents could also benefit from the network by using it to promote their authors.

So, who would be the main actors involved?

Authors
Translators
Literary Agents/ Institutions for Translation Promotion
Publishing Houses

Helping to create a fair trade

The network could also offer some sample contracts that promote fair conditions, initially in English and other “central” languages but then translated to other languages by the community. Of course everybody is free to keep using contracts they are used to, but this would a way of providing some support for those not used to make international agreements and to promote initiatives like the Unesco’s “Recommendation on the Legal Protection of Translators and Translations and the Practical Means to improve the Status of Translators“. A second step could be some sort of forum of discussion about copyright and work conditions and/or provision of legal advise.

Some features:

- open to everybody that would like to join
- profiles with professional information, like portfolio, CV and contact information
- possibility of uploading pieces of texts
- space for comments on authors and translators work (peer review)
- interface in several languages (starting with English and other main languages, but asking the community to helping create interfaces in other languages)
- all sort of web tools that enable the information from the network to be linked to blogs, websites and other networks. Also the possibility to upload files in other formats.Like videos and podcasts, they are becomming common tools in the promotion of books. Let’s mash-up!

Goals:
- enhance the cultural exchange between languages/cultures and thus creating new publishing opportunities
- create a fair environment where authors/ translators from all over the world could present their work
- promote visibility for authors and translators by means of making available information in other languages
- etc.

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