Translators of Catalan as activists during the Franco dictatorship

Richard Mansell

pp. 517-533

in: Jean Boase-Beier, Lina Fisher, Hiroko Furukawa (eds), The Palgrave handbook of literary translation, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Abstract

In this chapter Mansell analyzes the case of Pearse Hutchinson, an Irish poet and translator who first moved to Barcelona in the 1950s and fell in love with the Catalan language and Catalan literature. As his work progressed, Hutchinson proactively approached authors, publishers and media figures, and organised cultural events in Catalan when such things were outlawed by Franco's repressive dictatorship. In short, he became an example of a translator who does far more than translate, and through extensive archival research Mansell was able to determine why he did this, how his activity was received at the time, and what legacy his work left behind.