The most widespread translation practice is non-translation; it is normal that most texts and utterances are never translated. If everything had to be translated, the resource implications alone would leave humanity in serious trouble. It nevertheless makes sense to study the phenomenon of non-translation in two contexts: first, when it is artificially induced (through censorship or ideological embargo) (see Duarte, 2000; Špirk, 2014) and second, when, as discussed in this chapter, individuals or institutions struggle against non-translation, as in the case of less widely translated European literatures. To understand the logic of these interventions in international literary flows, I will approach translation from the perspective of supply and demand.

Understanding Demand-driven Translation

Because of the time and effort required, it is much easier to find a reason for not translating a text or utterance. Demand is widely considered a key motivation for literary translation; someone (a particular person or an undefined set of individuals) in the target culture sees a book or a series of books (a repertoire, genre) in another culture, observes that it is missing in the target culture and that it may be useful in some way, and makes the decision to get it translated. As Gideon Toury (2012, 21–22) puts it:

For example, consider the German interest in Scandinavian literature in general and Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) in particular in the nineteenth century. Although the German openness towards Scandinavian literature was to some extent rooted in pan-Germanic cultural affinities, Ibsen and other Scandinavian authors of the late nineteenth-century boom were translated thanks to genuine interest in the new, radical voices of the source cultures. The demand-driven nature of these translations does not conflict with the fact that these translations were read in ways that somewhat contradicted their original reception and interpretation in their source cultures (see, for instance, Bruns, 1977; Gentikow, 1978; Baumgartner, 1979; Zernack, 1997).