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Lost in Translation or Lost in Publishing: Introduction of World Literature in Early Modern Bulgarian Publishing via Russian Language Editions

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Abstract

Bulgarian book publishing starts developing as commercial system as early as the second half of nineteenth century. With the increasing of competition after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, as main problem the lack of texts for publishing emerges. The Bulgarian literature was still too young to provide texts for the publishers with the required quality and quantity. That’s why the publisher’s main goal remains the translation of popular (in any sense of meaning) foreign authors. In relation with this policy two main problems emerged—the lack of translators from the main European and World languages and appearance of many intellectuals who pretended to have good Russian language skills. This resulted in Russian book editions of world literature being the main source for Bulgarian translations. The paper focuses on to the process of retransmission and republishing of texts from language to language and from place to place. Interesting conclusions are made on how the publishing market strategies affect readers and their perception of the most popular titles of world literature. The main thesis is that the language skills (or lack of skills) of the translator are important for the reader’s perception of the text but the publisher’s choice of foreign editions through the mediation of second country’s publishing system had critical importance for the perception of Bulgarian readers of classical and popular examples of Western literature.

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Notes

  1. For publishing a Russian translated literature in Bulgaria during the survey period (1878–1908) see: [4, 5].

  2. It's about the ratio of books in which is specified language of the source-language text.

  3. Presented quantitative data are extracted from the bibliographic reference of 15,860 bibliographic records made of Direction Bibliographic and Information Services of the Bulgarian National Library. See also: [6, 7].

  4. In 1897 Bulgarian publishers and booksellers for the first time held a meeting in the city of Plovdiv to discuss the problem of saturation of the market and unfair competition [8].

  5. E. p. Christov pursue a publishing career in the town of Veliko Tarnovo—former Bulgarian medieval capital till 1396 and provincial center after the Liberation in 1878. Despite the fact that on Bulgarian scales he is a great publisher almost nothing beyond bibliographic information for his books is known about him [9].

  6. In 1899 Christov tries to diversify his repertoire and published also via Russian editions Les travailleurs de la mer from Victor Hugo and The War of the Worlds from Herbert Wells.

  7. In that case no research has been made if the editorial decision is related with military censorship system [28].

  8. That cover was a remake of earlier layout of Nasha Rodina publishing house editions from 1919 [32].

  9. The archive of the notable Bulgarian publisher Alexander Paskalev keeps his correspondence with the famous poet Dimcho Debelyanov. They argue which old Bulgarian editions of foreign works can be “recycled” and presented as new editions of Paskalev publishing house [37].

References

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  2. Hamlet, Denitsa, 1891;2(5):235.

  3. Shakespeare W. Hamlet. Ruse: Ed. Trans.; 1891.

  4. Nikolova M. Russian book in Bulgaria: 1878–1912 (Moscow: Pashkov House, 2010). ISBN: 978-5-7510-0498-9 (Russian language).

  5. Nikolova M. Translated Russian literature in the repertoire of Sofia publishers (1878–1912). Proceedings of SVUBIT 7 (2008): 445-450. ISSN 1312-5834 (Bulgarian language).

  6. Oreshkov P. Our literature on the eve of war and it fate to 1928 (Sofia, 1931) (Bulgarian language).

  7. Zagorov V. Statistical aspects and problems of the history of the book in Bulgaria. Library. 2011;18(4):5–9 (Bulgarian language).

  8. Zagorov V. The Bulgarian book (1878–1912). From the Revival to the Commercialization (Sofia: Za Bukvite—O Pismeneh, 2014). ISBN: 9786191850020 (Bulgarian language).

  9. Archive of bibliographic references: Books Publishing “Ephraim P. Christov”. Books. 1878–1944. 137 titles. Bul. Language. In: http://www.nationallibrary.bg/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0301&n=8&g. Online 29 June 2016.

  10. The Online Books Page. Online Books by Mayne Reid. http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Reid%2C%20Mayne%2C%201818-1883. Online 29 June 2016.

  11. Thomas Mayne Reid. In: e-catalog of Russian National Library. http://www.nlr.ru/poisk/. Online 29 June 2016.

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  14. Reid TM. Mladite Robi (Veliko Tarnovo: E. p. Christov, 1898). 192 p. ill.

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  16. Reid TM. The Boy Slaves (Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1865). 321 p. plates. 19 cm. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007919645/Home. Online 01 July 2016.

  17. Transvaal. The Human Rights Newspaper, 1900. http://digital.nationallibrary.bg/DWWebClient/(X(1)S(itellbbroftmgse3g4ne41s4))/ViewerWindow.ashx?WebpartKey=Viewer_Viewer_10232&v=1796. Online 29 June 2016.

  18. Reid TM. Lovtsi za Zhiraphi (Veliko Tarnovo: E. p. Christov, 1900). 192 p.

  19. Reid TM. The Boys slaves (London: George Routledge and Sons Ink., [1865]). https://archive.org/stream/Captain_Mayne_Reid_The_Boy_Slaves#page/n343/mode/2up. Online 01 July 2016.

  20. Reid TM. Les Jeunes esclaves. (Paris: J. Hetzel, 1869). 310 p., pl., fig. au titre, couv. Ill. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58129124/f8.item.r=Les%20Jeunes%20esclaves,%20par%20Mayne-Reid.zoom. Online 01 July 2016.

  21. Reid TM. Mladite Robi (Sofia: Hemus, 1929). 156 p. ill.

  22. Reid TM. Mladi Robi (Sofia: Ivan Koumdzhiev). 1947. 144 p.

  23. Reid TM. Mladite Robi (Sofia: Trenev&Trenev, 1992). 148 p. ill.

  24. Reid TM. The Giraffe Hunters (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867). 298 p. plates. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn5gvz;view=1up;seq=15. Online 01 July 2016.

  25. Reid TM. The Giraffe Hunters, vol. I–III. (London: Hurst and Blackett Publishers, 1867). https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t9r21js7g;view=1up;seq=11. Online 01 July 2016.

  26. Reid TM. Ohotniki za zhirafami (Moskva: I. D. Sitin, Moskva, 1895). 222 p. ill.

  27. Reid TM. Ohotniki za zhirafami; Malchiki na severe, vol. 15, 1872. 372, III p. ill.

  28. Reid TM. Lovtsi za Zhiraphi (Sofia: Shtab na deistvashtata armia, 1917).

  29. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi; Prev. ***. (Shumen: Petar Kanchev, 1919). 201, VII p.

  30. Reid TM. Lovtsi za Zhiraphi (Plovdiv: Spoluka, 1926). 62 p.

  31. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi (Sofia: Al. Paskalev, [1942]).

  32. Reid TM. Lovtsi za Zhiraphi, vol. 3 (Nasha Rodina, 1919). 111 p. ill.

  33. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi (Sofia: Slance, 1947). 184 p.

  34. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi (Sofia: Narodna Mladezh, 1958). 247 p.

  35. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi (Sofia-Pleven: Evrazia-Abagar, 1993). 220 p.

  36. Reid TM. Lovtsi na Zhiraphi (Sofia-Pleven: Evrazia-Abagar, 1993). http://www.e-bookbg.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=3347&Itemid=61.

  37. Archive of the Bulgarian publisher Alexander Paskalev. Bulgarisan National Library, Sofia: F. 228.

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  1. Library Studies Department, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT), 119 Tsarigradsko Shosse Boulevard, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Vasil Zagorov

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  1. Vasil Zagorov
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Zagorov, V. Lost in Translation or Lost in Publishing: Introduction of World Literature in Early Modern Bulgarian Publishing via Russian Language Editions. Pub Res Q 33, 160–172 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-017-9508-5

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