Translation in the context of un-exile: An approach to Nordan-Community and Vintén Editor

Abstract

During the final stage of Uruguay’s dictatorship and the first years of democracy, various publishing proposals emerged as a way of revitalizing the local field, which had been weakened by the repression. In this context, two publishing houses were born in Sweden in the 1980s: Nordan-Comunidad and Vintén Editor. Known for their intense work, the first translations of their catalogues stood out, published with the double objective of collaborating in the exile of those who returned to the country and to provide a literary space to ponder on fascism and the experiences of political prisoners. Thus, in 1988 Nordan-Comunidad published the first Spanish translation of Karin Boye's Kalocaína and in 1990 Vintén published Moberg's Acerca de la libertad. These texts put in dialogue (not only through their translations, but also through the paratexts that bring the work closer to the local reader) two experiences: that of the Nazi threat in Sweden in the 1940s and that of the Southern Cone dictatorships of the 1970s. I will address, then, from the perspective of book and publishing studies, the exchanges between two hitherto distant literary systems and the role of publishing houses as mediators between cultures through paratexts in translation.