Book Fairs, Publishers and Institutions in Germany

Who could doubt that translators play a key role in promoting our European consciousness? Nonetheless, it is a fact that “the great majority of European literary translators live on or below the breadline”, says Holger Vock, vice president of the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (CEATL). Although there are more translations into German than into any other language, working conditions even in Germany are anything but rosy.

Jürgen Jacob Becker is director of the German Translators’ Fund. He cites some sobering figures: on average, a literary translator in Germany has a monthly income of 2,000 euros. Freelancers then have to deduct taxes, social security contributions and office costs from this total. “That’s hardly enough to live on”, says Becker.

According to Becker, fees paid to translators have hardly risen at all over the past decades, and these days just 21 euros is paid for a standard page. The situation in smaller Eastern European countries such as Albania is far worse even than that: “Translators there are entirely at the mercy of the market. They have to translate for two euros a page, which does not exactly have a beneficial impact on quality.”

“What can the EU do for you?”

To change this, five literary institutions launched a project known as PETRA; its congress was co-organized in 2011 by Jürgen Jacob Becker. The acronym stands for “Plateforme européenne pour la traduction littéraire”, or “European Platform for Literary Translation”. The idea emerged during a translation congress staged by the European Union (EU) in 2009. As Becker explains, translators at the congress were asked: “Dear translators, make some suggestions: what can the EU do for you?”.

Passa Porta, a literary organization based in Brussels, then seized the initiative and founded PETRA – in collaboration with the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, the Polish Book Institute, der Slovak Literary Translators’ Society and the online magazine Transeuropéennes. Half of the network’s funding comes from the European Union, while the rest is provided by partner organizations supported by foundations such as the S. Fischer Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Pro Helvetia.

Experiences, contacts, role models

At the heart of the PETRA project, which is designed to run for two years, is a congress in Brussels which took place in December 2011. 180 participants from all over Europe came together to discuss possibilities and future prospects for literary translators. Experiences were shared, contacts forged and best practice models presented.

One such model is the “Weltlesebühne” (i.e. World Reading Stage), an association of translators from Germany and Switzerland. At their events, they make translation itself the main topic and central focus rather than simply acting as authors’ interpreters. They self-confidently view themselves as “co-authors”.

In Europe, the Scandinavian countries are also regarded as role models, as here “the collecting societies always add a bit more on top of the fee”, praises Jürgen Jacob Becker. Or indeed the Netherlands: “In Holland, the literary fund usually doubles the translation fee by giving translators a grant.”

Catalogue of measures and recommendations

Becker explains that one of the goals of the congress was to develop a catalogue of recommendations. In it, the EU will be called upon to establish programmes “which genuinely benefit translators.” Currently, he explains, there is just one such programme that promotes publishers which publish translations. “That is all very well, but doesn’t do much to change the situation of translators.”

Instead, the founding fathers of PETRA want to see targeted stipends, mobility programmes and training and continuing education for lifelong learning. What is more, translators should be given a share in the main and subsidiary rights to their works.

Jürgen Jacob Becker has announced that the catalogue of recommendations will be published in spring 2012: just in time, in other words, to get involved in the discussion of the new EU cultural promotion programme that is to be approved before the end of this year and is set to enter into force in 2014.