Literary translation: Between intellectual cooperation and cultural diplomacy

Abstract

Intellectual cooperation and cultural diplomacy are generally addressed by historians of international relations and by scholars working in global history. In this contribution, I approach them from a cultural but socially oriented perspective. I examine the history of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) with a focus on the translation activities it promoted and the functions the latter fulfilled in society. To this end, I first present the main activities that configured the IIIC’s translation policy. Then I delve into the political dimensions of intellectual cooperation, many of which shaped the translation projects developed by this institution in turn. Finally, I focus on a specific translation project, namely, the Ibero-American Collection. Its editorial history is reconstructed to show the ways this collection fulfilled functions that surpassed its foundational purpose, including unplanned functions related to Latin American regional cooperation and to the promotion of a Latin American regional identity.