ABSTRACT
Fiction refers to imaginative works, generally in prose, and encompasses short stories and plays as well as novels. Using a variety of data, historical and contemporary trends in the translation of fiction can be mapped, and the global cultural, economic and political forces that influence the transnational literary field can be assessed. In the modern capitalist system, commercial exchange of fiction between countries succeeded only when backed by strong, centralized national production and consumption. Defensive or protectionist attitudes were pervasive: certain novels would be worth translating because of their literary value, but too much translated fiction was seen as a potentially corruptive force or a sign of national-literary weakness. Translation is not only a necessary practice for sharing literature, but an encompassing cultural concept especially relevant to prose fiction. International book fairs, literary prizes for novels and for translations, as well as state-sponsored cultural policies are also actors of economic and cultural globalization that affect translations of fiction.
