Politics of Translation: How States Shape Cultural Transfers

Aside from economic and cultural factors, processes of translation and cultural transfer depend on state policies. Examining the cases of two smaller countries: the Netherlands and Israel, state policies for cultural export are shown to have had considerable impact on translations from Dutch and Hebrew. Through multiple actors and a variety of institutional channels, translation policy not only contributed to growing numbers of translated books, but also shaped the representation of the literature in these languages on the global level. In both cases, the institutions charged with promoting and representing national literature abroad have evolved from a more diplomatic role in international cultural affairs toward the role of literary agent to publishers, providing subsidies and other forms of support.