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Translation Flows: Exploring networks of people, processes and products
Edited by Ilse Feinauer, Amanda Marais and Marius Swart
[Benjamins Translation Library 163] 2023
► pp. 163–182

Chapter 9
The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts

A case study

| Bahçeşehir University
This study investigates the role of international literary agents in the flow of texts and the network of relations of the global literary market. A major element of agents’ work is interlingual translation, complemented by cultural and intersemiotic translation, as they act as brokers between authors, translators and publishers located in different national contexts. In the case of literary agents promoting lesser-known national literatures abroad, the role of cultural mediation also includes managing the image of nations and cultures. The study explores the acts of translation that international literary agents undertake and commission, as well as acts of image building through such translation. The analysis is based on a case study from Turkey: Kalem Agency, the largest literary agency in the country. The discussion draws on content and discourse analysis based on interviews with the co-founder, Nermin Mollaoğlu, as well as published news items and promotional material produced by Kalem.
Keywords: literary agents, cultural mediators, text flows, Turkish literature, Kalem
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Methodology
  • Cultural intermediaries in translation research
  • Kalem Agency and Nermin Mollaoğlu
  • Networks
  • Transnational cultural mediation: Practices
  • Translation and other textual-linguistic practices
  • National and cultural images
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 October 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.163.09tek
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