Chapter 13 - Translating into a Minor Language

Summary

This chapter considers the social, political and historical circumstances that impact on literary translation into a minor language, with specific reference to the case of the Macedonian language spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia. An overview of the history of translation is first provided, beginning with the codification of the Macedonian language with the emergence of the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign state within the Yugoslav federation. The chapter further discusses how the country gaining independence from Yugoslavia upon its breakup affected translation trends, and thus the quality of translated literary works. Finally, the chapter provides insight into how a recent authoritarian government abused political issues regarding identity to launch and realize a gargantuan government project involving the translation of hundreds of books within an extremely short period of time, thereby forever altering the literary landscape of the culture and setting harmful precedents regarding translation policies.