Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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specialisteditorsareresponsiblefordifferentpartsofthelist.Withrespectto

thesocialsciences,forexample,theyfrequentlyvisitacademicinstitutionsin

ordertoseekoutpotentialauthors.Editors,whoareoftenonlysalaried

employeesofthecompany,aresubjecttofinancialpressurestodiscovertitles

whichwillnotonlybringprestigetothefirmbutalsoprovetobeprofitable.

Consequently,theywillonlytakeonauthorswhohavealreadyestablished

considerablereputationsintheirowncountryand,preferably,alreadybeen

translatedintoEnglish.Schulte(1990:2),amongstothers,hasfurthersuggested

that‘thepresentationofnewwritersisfurthercomplicatedbythefactthatmost

editorsat[Englishspeaking]publishinghousesareunabletoreadworksintheir

originallanguageincontrasttoeditorsatEuropeanpublishinghouseswhoarein

generalquitefamiliarwithEnglish–andmustthereforerelyontheadviceand

tasteofothers’.Schultealsoarguesthatsincetranslatorsare‘inapositionto

initiatetheflowofworksfromothercountriesintoEnglish’,theyshouldbecome

‘thekeyfigureintheestablishmentofcrossculturalcommunication’(ibid.:1).

Withrespecttoliterature,however,thereisanincreasingtendencyforEnglish

andAmericaneditorstorely,atleastinthefirstinstance,onagentsandevents

suchastheannualFrankfurtBookFairratherthanontheadviceoftranslators.

Incountrieswherefamilypublishersarestillthenorm,editorsbuildupformalor

informalnetworksofinformants(includingtranslators)whoseroleitistowrite

reportsonmanuscriptswhichhavebeenofferedtothefirmoreventopropose

titlesoftheirownaccord.Inthelattercase,theymaybepaidasmallroyaltyon

sales(suchas1percent),eveniftheytakenofurtherpartinpreparingthe

manuscriptforpress.Theextentofthesenetworksandtheinformalrules

regulatingtheirbehaviourvariesfrompublishinghousetopublishinghouseand

fromcountrytocountry.

Culturalandacademicpresses

Venuti(1992:5)hassuggestedthatthesmallriseinthenumberofEnglish

languagetranslationsbeingbroughtoutbyAngloAmericanpublisherstowards

theendofthe1980swasaconsequenceofgeneraltradepublishersbeing

forced‘tocompeteagainstnewtranslationinitiativesatuniversityandsmall

presses’.Althoughthetotalnumberoftitlesissuedeachyearbyacademicand

whatmightbetterbetermed‘cultural’pressesissmallincomparisontothat

achievedbygeneraltradepublishers,theyareworthdiscussingheresince

collectivelyandeven,insomecases,individuallytheyarecapableofexertinga

notinconsiderableculturalinfluence.

Fromapurelyeconomicpointofview,publishingoffersanumberof

advantages.Publishingisnotcapitalintensive;theentrepreneurcanconcentrate

ondevelopingaspecialistornichemarket;alternativemarketingstrategies,

especiallyinvolvingtheInternet,mayhelpmaximizeprofits;andoverheadsmay

beminimized,especiallyifthepublisheroperatesfromhisorherownpremises.

Moregenerally,theeconomiesoflargescaleventuresarenotsogreatasto

precludesmallscaleoperations:ageneraltradepublishermightconsideraprint

runofthreethousandasfinanciallyunjustifiable;aculturalpressmightjudgea

similarprintrunagreatsuccess.Andfinally,therearenoimpedimentsto

enteringthemarket.Nonetheless,thefinancialexistenceofsuchpressesnot

onlyintheUSAandwesternEuropebutelsewhereisoftenprecarious,and

thoseinvolved(whetheraspublishers,translatorsorauthors)frequentlydepend

onsalariesearnedfromactivitiessuchasteaching.Moreworryingisthebelief

heldbymanycommentatorsthatprintmediaisexperiencingaslowbutsteady

worldwidedecline.Indeed,BritishandNorthAmericanfictionpublishing,which

isincreasinglydependentonheavydiscounting(especiallytosupermarkets),is

alsoshowingsignsofanacceleratedpolarization.In2006,thefiftybestselling

titlesaccountedforaquarterofallfictionsalesintheUK.

Itisencouraging,therefore,thatofthetwothousandpublishersinexistencein

theUK,themajoritymightbedescribedasculturalpresses.Immunefromthe

exigenciesofcorporatefinance,manytakealongtermviewoftheirown

successandnotafewaremotivatedprimarilybyaquestforprestige,whether

onbehalfoftheirfounders,theirauthorsor,moregenerally,theliteraryor

politicaltendencywhichtheyadvance.Culturalpresses,however,arecapable