Deutsche Literatur in Norwegen – Übersetzungen und Hindernisse

For many decades, the main purpose of Norwegian language policy has been the protection of the Norwegian language, one of the instruments being excellent support schemes for both authors and translators. It might seem paradoxical to preserve the Norwegian language through translation of foreign literature, but this paradox is only apparent, as all writers must look beyond their own national borders to take inspiration from fellow writers, regardless of language and nationality.

Every year, books and plays by around 10 German language fiction writers are translated into Norwegian and published by Norwegian publishers’ or performed on Norwegian theatre stages. A few decades ago, "every" Norwegian read Böll and Grass, "everyone" had seen "Mor Courage", but what place and function does German language literature hold in present day Norway? And how is it made visible?

The book industry struggles due to declining book sales. In Norway this seems to affect translated literature especially. Fewer titles are being translated, and the publishers focus more on sales potential than before. Moreover, the translation profession is in itself under pressure, partly due to AI and other machine translation. We are in other words in danger of losing the very core of literary translation: the translator's own experiences and expertise about the culture and mentality of both languages, in this case Norwegian and German.