Constructing a Sociology of Translation.pdf

Translations “in the making” 153after the original), it remains to be seen whether these placements will turn intotrue sales or returns to the distributor. Though highlighted by the main retailers,the translation didn’t make much waves. But that was expected. As already mentioned,the title had received nationwide media coverage upon its initial release inEnglish, so that the press officer knew it felt like an old story to Québec journalists.And in any case, the author was not present for its promotion.This case study is not explicitly representative of Fides’s way of producingtranslations. The sensitive subject and nature of the book and the legal actionundertaken make this project quite an exceptional one. Besides, Fides has a verywide editorial line, so it would be difficult to select one title as representative ofthe company. However, this case provides a good illustration of the institutionalrole of translation in Canada, where historically this practice has not been somuch a means of “introducing the foreign” as it has been a way of “breaking thetwo solitudes”, of enhancing exchanges between French- and English-speakingCanadians. Since Canada became an officially bilingual country in 1969, translation,more specifically English/French translation, has become a public and legalaffair – a commitment. And the policy of the Canada Council for the Arts is theexpression, in the field of culture, of this commitment.The Secret Mulroney Tapes story falls perfectly into this domestic agenda. Atthe same time, the way this project was conducted is also indicative of the relationship(and power differentials) between English- and French-Canadian publishers,as well as the intertwined nature of their respective markets. As explained above,this project would have been much more interesting to any Québec publisher ifhe or she could have cooperated with the English-Canadian publisher in order forthe French and English versions to be released at the same time. Yet, the FrenchNorth American market (which is four times smaller than the English-Canadianone) obviously did not weigh much in the English Canadian publisher’s decision.This might have to do with the sensitive, even explosive nature of the book. Indeed,a number of essays of “national interest” are now released simultaneously,in French and English, to maximize media impact and/or save on promotionalcosts. However, in speaking with some Québec publishers who worked in partnershipwith their English-Canadian counterparts, it was clear that cooperation isnot always simple and often involved a speeding-up of the translation process tokeep as close as possible to the original publisher’s initial schedule. Cooperationbecomes easier, in a way, as both parties clearly benefit from it. In this respect, onemay differentiate between “straight” black-and-white non-illustrated books thatentail low production costs and coffee-table illustrated coloured works that aremuch more expensive to produce. In the latter case, English and French versionsare likely to be not only released at the same time, but also co-produced to save