9. Changed Publishing Trends After 1989

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According to the translation database of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies,1 in the former Communist block, the Hungarian translation of Surfacing was the second book by Atwood published in the region in 1984. It was preceded only by Lady Oracle published in 1982 in Bulgarian. The bibliographic data shows that while the translations of Atwood’s novels were available in the surrounding post-Communist countries well before 2017, in the Hungarian literary field, it was relatively difficult to introduce Atwood even after the political change. It was only the HBO-GO film series The Handmaid’s Tale that changed that. The journey of the book was thus rather difficult. The Handmaid’s Tale was translated into Hungarian twenty-one years later than its English language publication by Enikő Mohácsi in 2006, initially with Lazi Publisher, a small publishing enterprise in the city of Szeged. By that time, the book was recommended no longer by a reader’s report, but through Katalin Kürtösi, PhD, professor at the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Szeged. When it was published in 2006, it did not find a receptive readership. Although Lazi tried to improve its marketing strategy and changed the book cover, it did not sell well.2 An edited translation of the novel with a new marketing strategy was put on the market in 2017 by Jelenkor Publishing House part of the Libri conglomerate located in Budapest and since that time, thanks to the HBO-GO series adaptation that came out under the same title in the same year, the book has been reprinted eleven times (Kovács, 2019). The most reviewed book before the change of regime, The Edible Woman, was translated forty-four years after the original Canadian release in 2020 by Ágnes Csonka for the Atwood-series of Jelenkor Publishing House, who holds exclusive translation rights for Atwood. Finally, from the list of Atwood books considered for publishing between 1974 and 1990, Cat’s Eye was also translated by Csonka in 2020 for Jelenkor under the title Macskaszem, thirty years after the initial publishing. While several novels have been published, Atwood’s poetry still waits to be introduced in Hungary.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

As we have seen through the analysis of the readers’ reports, the editors of Európa Publishing House kept an eye on Atwood even before the change of the regime. The case study has examined twenty-two reader’s reports which were part of the selection process for world literature before 1989 in Hungary. A clear change can be noticed in the wording of the reviewing documents. While the reviews written in the 1970s try to give a precise description of the plot, the characters’ place in society, and point out any taboos that are not compatible with the Socialist literary standards, in the second half of the 1980s, the reports focus on potential success in the target culture, accessibility, marketability. In addition to that, close to 1989 and in the 1990s, overt political references can be found in the plot descriptions of the novels. By taking up publishing practices of the global book market after the political change, the publishers’ tools for selection have also changed, as we can see that in the case of Atwood’s books as well. Due to the accelerated publishing practices, it is now rare that publishers would ask external readers for reviews. Bestseller lists, the prestige of international literary prizes, pitches of literary agencies and the network of personal contacts serve as a filter to select books that are economically safe to publish.
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Table 1. The recommendations of the reviewing documents on the literary work of Margaret Atwood
Date of the review
Address (date of publishing in source language)
Recommendation
(+ publishing is recommended, – not recommended)
Possible title
Notes
1974
Surfacing (1972)
+
Felszínre bukkanás
1974
Surfacing (1972)
Felmerülés
1981
Surfacing (1972)
+
Felszínre érni
1977
You Are Happy (1974)
+
Boldog vagy
1977
The Edible Woman (1969)
+
Az ehető nő
1977
The Edible Woman (1969)
Az ehető asszony
1981
The Edible Woman (1969)
+
Az ehető asszony
First recommends publishing Surfacing.
1982
The Edible Woman (1969)
+
Az ennivaló nő
Calls attention to the popular book of Surfacing.
1980
Life Before Man (1979)
Élet az ember előtti időkben
1981
Life Before Man (1979)
+
Élet az ember előtt
It would be worth introducing Atwood through her earlier novels.
1982
Life Before Man (1979)
+
Élet az ember előtt
1982
Bodily Harm (1981)
Testi sérülés
1982
Bodily Harm (1981)
Testi hiba
Recommends the publication of her poetry.
1982
Bodily Harm (1981)
+
1984
Bluebeard’s Egg (1983)
Próbatétel
Recommends a selection of short stories.
1984
Bluebeard’s Egg (1983)
+
Kékszakáll tojása
-
Dancing Girls (1977)
Táncosnők
Recommends a selection.
1986
Dancing Girls (1977)
Táncosnők és Más Történetek
Recommends a selection.
1987
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
+
A szolgáló meséje
1988
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
A szolgálólány meséje
1990
Cat’s Eye (1988)
+
1990
Cat’s Eye (1988)
+
Macskaszem
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Figure 1. Source: CEACS translation database 2016.
1 The translation bibliography of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies: http://www.cecanstud.cz/index.php/en/other-activities/projects [Accessed 8 September 2020]
2 Interview with István Lázár, director of Lazi Publishing House, Budapest, January 2019.
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