Bibliodiversity in subsidized translations

Abstract

In 2009, Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship launched Programa Sur (PROSUR), a translation subsidy programme, in order to promote Argentinian literature abroad. Since the interest in Argentinian women’s writing is increasing transnationally, this article aims to consider the extent to which PROSUR supports and contributes to transnational bibliodiversity, more specifically to the presence of women’s writing and gender equality in the literary sector. By analysing the discourse used by PROSUR, both online and in a personal interview, and by analysing the data on which publishing houses received grants for which authors, as well as works between 2010 and 2022, this article finds that PROSUR supports specific agents in the field that work to increase bibliodiversity, like independent publishers. Still, men’s writing receives proportionally more grants than women’s writing, although this gap has become smaller over the years, with women’s writing surpassing men’s in 2022. Moreover, the data also shows that a large number of applications are made for a small number of women who already had some visibility through national and international prizes, English translations, or film adaptations.