Cultural policy, international publishers and the circulation of Dutch literature in translation

This project seeks to offer new insight into how literature from Flanders and the Netherlands finds its way to international publishers. It focuses particular attention on the two most important target markets for Dutch literature in translation: the German-language market and the English-language market. Previous exploratory research by the promoter of this project has shown that the national funding agencies that formulate and deploy the cultural policy of Flanders and the Netherlands as it relates to literature can have a decisive role in the international circulation of Dutch literature. However, little research is available about the actual influence that outward-facing cultural policies related to literature have on the editorial policy and the selection, production and publication practices of international publishers. Drawing on a selection of case studies of recently published book translations out of Dutch, this project aims to fill this gap and, in doing so, to provide a model that can be used for similar studies elsewhere in the European cultural field.