Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

This study examines the Swedish publishing of translated high prestige fiction via data on the works by Nobel Prize laureates in literature. By using a statistical and bibliometric methodology, all printed editions in Swedish translation (almost 1,300 editions) by the Nobel Prize laureates in literature 1970–2016 have been collected and studied. Theoretical approaches have been inspired by Pierre Bourdieu, Pascale Casanova, and David Damrosch. It takes in average 20 years from the writer’s first published edition in Swedish translation until the writer is awarded the Nobel Prize. This means that the Nobel Prize in many cases reintroduces writers that otherwise may have been forgotten by the Swedish market. The notion of attention economy describes the mechanisms activated by the Nobel Prize, where attention creates more attention and leads to the reprint of backlist editions. The publishing trajectories of the 45 selected Nobel Prize laureates highlight general patterns in the Swedish book market, i.e. that small publishing houses have become increasingly more important for translated high prestige literature, and the diminishing importance of medium-sized publishers. Many small publishing firms were founded after 1975, as a result of the state financial subsidy for ‘translated and valuable fiction’, and yet they introduced the largest number of future laureates in the 1980s. Large publishing houses have been important for the introduction and overall publishing of the laureates, although their publishing decisions appear to be more connected to guarantees of attention and prestige during the later decades of the study (mostly the 2010s) than the earlier. This study investigates a half century of the Swedish book market where many changes occured, highlighting structural changes in publishing practices and showing the importance of cultural transmitters, e.g. publishers and translators, for high prestige literature in translation.

This study examines the publication of prose fiction translated from French, German, and Spanish into Swedish. Using a statistical and bibliometric methodology, all print editions in Swedish translation (almost 4,200 editions) published between 1970 and 2016 have been collected and studied. Theoretical approaches have been inspired by Pierre Bourdieu, Pascale Casanova, Johan Heilbron, and Gisèle Sapiro.

French and German held important positions in the Swedish book market in the 1800s and early 1900s. In the 1970s there was a shift, where Swedish originals were published in larger extent than translations. As Swedish originals have increased, translations from French and German have become fewer. Spanish as a source language has historically had a peripheral position in the Swedish book market. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s, with Nobel laureates such as Gabriel García Márquez and the bestselling author Isabel Allende, that Spanish was established as a source language in the Swedish book market.

Between 1970 and 2016, translations migrated from large to small publishing houses. This was especially true for translations from French and German. The number of translations also decreased. Small publishing houses became increasingly important, while medium-size publishing houses lost their importance for translations from the three source languages.

Male authors from the three source languages were published more frequently than female authors, which relates to the high number of classics and high-prestige literature published in the period. Small publishing houses made a significant contribution to the publication of female authors from the three languages, especially after 2005.

General patterns in the Swedish book market are discussed on the basis of the dataset, including the importance of the state subsidy for translated fiction and the impact of financial crises on the publishing world.