The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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12 The Linguist Vol/55 No/4 2016 www.ciol.org.uk FICTION IN TRANSLATION A male bias in publishing Welcome as this interest in women in translation has been, the issue is only a facet of the wider problems faced by all women writers. Kamila Shamsie's provocative article requesting a "year of publishing only women" made the news last year. 3 Publishing as an industry is heavily biased towards white males, the article stated; they dominate the top positions in terms of reviews and literary prizes, and drastic action is necessary to redress this imbalance. This is not an issue that affects only the UK market. VIDA, the American organisation researching women's contemporary writing, confirms that this is fair reflection of the state of the publishing industry on both sides of the Atlantic. An article published in June finds this same bias against women in the Australian market. 4 A cursory exploration of Italian literary magazines shows that this is also the case in Italy, where women are under-represented in terms of both reviews and literary prizes. Reports from colleagues based in other countries report a similar bias. Given that many publishers choose books to translate from those that receive positive reviews or win prizes, the under-representation of women in translation is but a reflection of the status of women writers overall. Why is this? Are books written by women less 'deserving' of attention than those written by men? It has often been suggested that men's writing is more visible because men write about 'important things' while women write about 'trivial' matters: women write romances, men write dramas. When a woman writes about the family and home life she is writing 'women's fiction', when a man writes about family, he is writing about the human condition. Women are often happy to read across the gender barrier, while men predominantly read books by men. A wide generalisation, of course, but not as wide as you might think. In December 2015, Marco Bonassi, the director of the historic Feltrinelli bookshop in Bologna, declared that he "doesn't read women". Hoping that it was an isolated case, I have since had similar examples reported to me by colleagues, and not just from abroad, but right here in the UK. Dr Amanda Freeman's BBC series The Ascent of Woman last year showed how women's achievements in history, in many fields, have often been dismissed, and then forgotten. Calisi Press published My Mother is a River in November, with Bella Mia, also by Di Pietrantonio, due in November 2016. Les Fugitives and Tilted Axis have also published books by women writers, as have a number of other publishers of translations. But until we take writing by women more seriously in our home countries, ensuring that women in translation are fairly represented will remain an uphill struggle. Notes 1 'Translated Fiction by Women must Stop Being a Minority in a Minority'. In The Guardian 10/3/16 2 'Where Are the Women in Translation?'. In Words Without Borders, 14/5/13 3 'Kamila Shamsie: Let's have a year of publishing only women – a provocation. In The Guardian, 5/6/15 4 'If you Doubted There was a Gender Bias in Literature, This Study Proves you Wrong'. In The Guardian, 10/6/16 POIGNANT WORKS Cover artwork for Elena Ferrante's Story of the Lost Child , published by Europa (left); and (below) a photo used to illustrate Di Pietrantonio's My Mother is a River