Abstract
This paper analyzes the participation of Argentina and Brazil as guests of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair (in 2010 and 2013 respectively). We relate these events to the recent history of the fair and to its role in the flows and circuits of publishing and translation at a worldwide scale, considering that the structure of those flows is regulated by the unequal relationships between different countries and linguistic marketplaces. We examine the negotiations among public entities and sectoral bodies involving such interactions; the thematic emphases chosen for the stands; and the socio-professional profile of the authors of each delegation. As a main conclusion, the study relates the differences between both cases to the specific relations between intellectuals and the state in each context, considering not only the tensions between culture and economy, but also the ways in which each country “translates” local issues into an occasion of transnational symbolic exchanges.
Keywords:
publishing market; translation; Frankfurt Book Fair; Brazil; Argentina