Facts and Figures
On this page you can find visualizations depicting the various aspects of the translation flows from Dutch-speaking countries to Austria. The visualisations are based on the data available in the Digital Library and Bibliography for Literature in Translation and Adaptation (DLBT). They illustrate the number of translations of Dutch titles per year, the Authors most translated in Austria, the most successful titles, publishers and translators. It seems that although publishing houses and translators have been active in Austria, there is still potential to expand their enterprises.
Dutch Literature in Austria since 2000
This line chart shows the number of publications of Dutch books in Autria per year from 2000 onwards, both original and reprint. The data include all four major genres. Using the slider under the graph, you can indicate which period you wish to see.
The overview shows that the number of titles translated from Dutch and published by Austrian publishers (incl. publishers with registered offices or branches in Austria) by year was highest in 2001. After that the number of translations continually decreased. Even the Frankfurt Book Fair (#Fairs) in 2016, with the Netherlands and Flanders as guest country, had little impact on this development.
The most translated authors
The most successful authors from the Netherlands and Flanders in Austria are the authors of children's and youth literature. The frontrunner is Guido van Genechten. His work was initially published by the publishing house Annette Betz, which was founded in Munich in 1962 and has been owned by the publishing house Ueberreuter since 1966. In 2014, Ueberreuter and Annette Betz were bought by the largest publisher of children's and youth literature in Austria, the publishing house G&G based in Vienna. The second most translated author in Austria is Rindert Kromhout. His work was published in Vienna by Picus at the beginning of this century.
The fact that no authors of adult literature appear in the overview does not mean that this literature does not play a role in Austria. On the contrary: adult literature from the Netherlands and Flanders is also readily available in Austria, but most of the publications are from Germany or Switzerland. Authors such as Willem Jan Otten, Mano Bouzamour, Annelies Verbeke and Sien Volders have so far not really benefited from being published and promoted by Austrian publishers. in recent decades publishing houses such as Residenz have made great efforts to build up their own body of titels translated from Dutch. But the breakthrough has yet to be achieved.
The most translated titles
This chart shows that there are no outliers. Although Austrian publishers keep trying to promote authors from the Dutch language area, no Austrian publisher has produced a real bestseller. If titles sell well, a second edition is published at the most. That is a pity because a bestseller would certainly change the image of literature from the Netherlands and Flanders in Austria. Publishers in Switzerland and Germany are currently achieving great successes with translations of Dutch literature. Their titles are well represented in Austrian bookshops.
Austrian publishers are not so lucky with literature from the Netherlands and Flanders. But those who are interested in literature from the Netherlands and Flanders fortunately have a wide choice.
The most active publishers
This chart depicting the most successful Austrian publishers mirrors that of the most successful authors in Austria. The top performers are the publishers of children's and youth literature from the Netherlands and Flanders. G&G including Annette Betz and Ueberreuter has the most published titles. Picus comes in second place. At the turn of the century this publisher built up a substantial body children's and youth literature translated from Dutch.
The three translations published by Tyrolia were translated at the beginning of this century. Given the ideological footing of this publishing house, it is not surprising that titles with a religious element were chosen: Ich komme mit - mein Messbuch [I'll come with you - my missal] (Leontien Leeuw, 2001), Das Kind in der Krippe [The Child in the Crib] (Liesbet Slegers, 2003), and Gott [God] (Paul Verrept, 2002). With translations of books by Margriet de Moor (Sturmflut [Storm Flood] (2006)) and Renate Dorrestein (Der Ausflug [The Trip] (2007)), the Buchgemeinschaft Donauland is the only publisher on the list that also offers adult literature from the Netherlands and Flanders.
The most productive translators
In recent decades the most successful translator of Dutch literature in Austria has undoubtedly been Daniel Löcker. A total of 35 works of children's and youth literature from the Netherlands and Flanders translated by Daniel Löcker have been published so far. Fourteen of the titles were published after 2000. Daniel Löcker translated many books by Rindert Kromhout, who was awarded the Austrian Children's and Youth Book Prize together with Daniel Löcker in 2003, and books by the highly successful Paul van Loon (book series: Master Detective Micki Hammer). In the period after 2000 Daniel Löcker also translated works by Els Rooijers, Anton van der Kolk, Martine Letterie, Hans Kuypers, Anke de Vries and Marja Hofman.
Meike Blatnik, known in the German-speaking world as the translator of Bibi Dumon Tak, has translated books from Anke de Vries and Suzan Peeters. As far as the work of Guido van Genechten is concerned, she has apparently taken over the task of Irmgard Harrer, who translated Van Genechten's work for Annette Betz at the beginning of this century. Mirjam Pressler, by far one of the most successful translators from Dutch into German with over 300 published titles, has translated remarkably little for Austrian publishing houses. In Austria only four translations by her hand have been published: two books by Toon Tellegen, one book by Ida Vos and Hexenfee by Brigitte Minne in 2006. Until today Hexenfee remaines the only title of Dutch children's and youth literature published by Residenz.
Hannie Ehlers plays a special role in this overview. In contrast to the other translators in Austria, she did not primarily translate children's and youth literature, but literature for adults. Through the Buchgemeinschaft Donauland, her translations of Renate Dorrestein (Das Erdbeerfeld [The Strawberry Fields], 2005); Der Ausflug [The Trip], 2007) and a book by Anna Enquist (Letzte Reise [Final Journey], 2010) were presented to the Austrian public. In 2005 Zsolnay published her translation of Nelleke Noordervliet's Die Schatten von Pelican Bay [Pelican Bay].