ACTA HISTRIAE
32, 2024, 3
UDK/UDC 94(05) ISSN 1318-0185ACTA HISTRIAE 32, 2024, 3, pp. 321-458
UDK/UDC 94(05) 
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko - Koper
Società storica del Litorale - Capodistria
ACTA HISTRIAE
32, 2024, 3
KOPER 2024
ISSN 1318-0185
e-ISSN 2591-1767
ACTA HISTRIAE • 32 • 2024 • 3
ISSN 1318-0185                UDK/UDC 94(05)             Letnik 32, leto 2024, številka 3
e-ISSN 2591-1767
Darko Darovec
Gorazd Bajc, Furio Bianco (IT), Flavij Bonin, Paolo Broggio (IT), Stuart Carroll (UK), Àngel Casals 
Martínez (ES), Alessandro Casellato (IT), Dragica Čeč, Lovorka Čoralić (HR), Darko Darovec, Marco 
Fincardi (IT), Darko Friš, Aleksej Kalc, Borut Klabjan, Urška Lampe, Amanda Madden (USA), John 
Martin (USA), Robert Matijašić (HR), Aleš Maver, Darja Mihelič, Edward Muir (USA), Jeppe Büchert 
Netterstrøm (DK), Žiga Oman, Egon Pelikan, Luciano Pezzolo (IT), Jože Pirjevec, Claudio Povolo (IT), 
Marijan Premović (MNE), Colin Rose (CA), Luca Rossetto (IT), Vida Rožac Darovec, Tamara Scheer 
(AT), Polona Tratnik, Boštjan Udovič, Marta Verginella, Nancy M. Wingfield (USA), Salvator Žitko.
Žiga Oman, Urška Lampe, Boštjan Udovič, Jasmina Rejec
Cecilia Furioso Cenci (it.), Žiga Oman (angl.)
Žiga Oman (angl., slo.), Cecilia Furioso Cenci (it.)
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko - Koper / Società storica del Litorale - Capodistria© 
/ Inštitut IRRIS za raziskave, razvoj in strategije družbe, kulture in okolja / Institute IRRIS for 
Research, Development and Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment / Istituto IRRIS 
di ricerca, sviluppo e strategie della società, cultura e ambiente©
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko, SI-6000, Koper-Capodistria, Garibaldijeva 18 
/ Via Garibaldi 18, e-mail: actahistriae@gmail.com; https://zdjp.si/en/p/actahistriae/
Založništvo PADRE d.o.o.
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Republike Slovenije / Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
Ministrska predsednika Jadranka Kosor in Borut Pahor leta 2010 / I 
primi ministri Jadranka Kosor e Borut Pahor nel 2010 / Prime ministers 
Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor in 2010 (foto/photo: Stanko Gruden, 
STA, Wikimedia Commons).
Redakcija te številke je bila zaključena 30. septembra 2024.
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Editor in Chief:
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Revija Acta Histriae je vključena v naslednje podatkovne baze / Gli articoli pubblicati in questa rivista sono inclusi nei seguenti indici di citazione 
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ACTA HISTRIAE • 32 • 2024 • 3
Volume 32, Koper 2024, issue 3UDK/UDC 94(05) ISSN 1318-0185
e-ISSN 2591-1767
VSEBINA / INDICE GENERALE / CONTENTS
Andreja Jaklič & Magdolna Sass: Foreign Direct Investment in 
Central and Eastern Europe After Two Decades of EU Enlargement: 
Slovenian and Hungarian Perspectives ...................................................................
Gli investimenti esteri diretti in Europa centro-orientale dopo 
due decenni di ampliamento dell’UE: prospettive slovene e ungheresi
Tuje neposredne investicije v srednji in vzhodni Evropi 20 let 
po veliki širitvi EU: primera Slovenije in Madžarske
Jana Arbeiter: Diplomatic Bridges: Two Decades of 
Slovenia’s Development Cooperation .....................................................................
Ponti diplomatici: due decenni di cooperazione allo sviluppo in Slovenia
Diplomatski mostovi: dve desetletji slovenskega razvojnega sodelovanja
Sabina Lange & Marjan Svetličič: Slovenia’s First and Second 
EU Council Presidency: Lessons Learnt to Enhance 
the Benefits of EU Membership .............................................................................
Prima e seconda presidenza slovena del consiglio dell’UE in Slovenia: lezioni 
apprese per migliorare i vantaggi dell’adesione all’UE 
Prvo in drugo predsedovanje Slovenije svetu evropske unije: nauki za povečanje 
koristi od članstva v Evropski uniji
Adriana Mezeg & Julija Rozman: Trends in the Translation 
of Slovenian Literature in the European Union: A Comparative Analysis 
of Published Works in 16 Languages (1991–2024) .................................................
Tendenze nella traduzione della letteratura slovena nell’Unione Europea: 
un’analisi comparativa delle opere pubblicate in 16 lingue (1991–2024)
Trendi prevajanja slovenske književnosti v Evropski Uniji: 
primerjalna analiza objavljenih del v 16 jezikih (1991–2024)
321
341
367
391
ACTA HISTRIAE • 32 • 2024 • 3
Thomas Bickl: European Bratstvo i jedinstvo? Slovenia’s Bilateral 
Relations with Croatia Through the Lens of EU Membership ................................
Bratstvo i jedinstvo europeo? Le relazioni bilaterali di Slovenia e Croazia 
attraverso la lente dell’appartenenza all’unione europea
Evropsko bratstvo i jedinstvo? Bilateralni odnosi Slovenije s 
Hrvaško skozi prizmo članstva v EU
Dragutin Papović: The Last Decades of the State of Duklja (Dioclia) ..................
Gli ultimi decenni dello stato di Doclea
Zadnja desetletja države Duklje (Dioclia)
OCENE
RECENSIONI
REVIEWS
Paolo Tomasella (a cura di): 
Nelle città della Venezia Giulia. Piani, progetti, fatti urbani 1924–1954 
(Aleksandar Kadijević) .........................................................................................
433
455
413
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ADRIANA MEZEG & JULIJA ROZMAN: TRENDS IN THE TRANSLATION OF SLOVENIAN LITERATURE ..., 391–412
TRENDS IN THE TRANSLATION OF SLOVENIAN LITERATURE 
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF 
PUBLISHED WORKS IN 16 LANGUAGES (1991–2024)
Adriana MEZEG
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Translation, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: adriana.mezeg@ff.uni-lj.si
Julija ROZMAN
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Translation, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: julija.rozman@ff.uni-lj.si
ABSTRACT 
This study examines the circulation of Slovenian literature in the European Union from 
Slovenia’s independence in 1991 through its accession to the EU in 2004 to 2024. By ana-
lysing COBIB bibliographic data and interviews with experts on the literary book market, 
we compare the translation of Slovenian literature into 16 EU languages, divided into four 
European regions. Our results show that the number and variety of translations increased 
significantly after EU accession compared to the 1990s, especially into German, followed 
by Italian, Spanish and French. In addition, an increase and diversification of translations 
into most of the 12 other, mainly peripheral languages can be observed.
Keywords: Slovenian literature, translation, translation flows, European Union, 
European Union Prize for Literature, central languages, (semi-)peripheral languages
TENDENZE NELLA TRADUZIONE DELLA LETTERATURA SLOVENA 
NELL’UNIONE EUROPEA: UN’ANALISI COMPARATIVA DELLE OPERE 
PUBBLICATE IN 16 LINGUE (1991–2024)
SINTESI
Questo studio esamina la circolazione della letteratura slovena nell’Unione Europea 
dall’indipendenza della Slovenia (1991) all’adesione all’UE (2004), fino al 2024. Analizzando 
i dati bibliografici del COBIB e le interviste con gli esperti del mercato librario confrontiamo 
la traduzione della letteratura slovena in 16 lingue dell’UE, suddivise in quattro regioni. I 
risultati mostrano che il numero e la varietà delle traduzioni sono aumentati significativa-
mente dopo l’adesione all’UE rispetto agli anni Novanta, soprattutto in tedesco, seguito da 
italiano, spagnolo e francese. Inoltre, si può osservare un aumento e una diversificazione 
delle traduzioni nella maggior parte delle altre 12 lingue, perlopiù in quelle periferiche.
Parole chiave: letteratura slovena, traduzione, flussi di traduzione, Unione Europea, 
Premio letterario dell’Unione Europea, lingue centrali, lingue (semi-)periferiche
Received: 2024-08-29                                                   DOI 10.19233/AH.2024.16
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INTRODUCTION1
Europe’s cultural richness depends to a great extent on translation, which enables 
European cultural and creative works, values and ideas to reach wider audiences and 
markets, both within Europe and globally (European Commission, Directorate-General 
for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, 2022). This article explores literary trans-
lation as a crucial form of the intercultural transmission of fiction (Grosman, 1997, 
11) beyond the boundaries of its original language. Through translation, readers gain 
access to a wealth of narratives, insights and artistic expressions that would otherwise 
remain inaccessible. Literary translation plays an important role in preserving national 
cultural identity and promoting different languages and cultures, especially those that 
are endangered or underrepresented. The reputation of a national literature is greatly 
enhanced by the number of works translated into foreign languages (Moder, 1993, 16), 
which facilitates its entry into the global literary space and establishes its international 
presence.
This article examines the circulation of literary translations from Slovenian into 
various languages of the European Union (EU). Literary exchanges between cultures 
depend on numerous factors (e.g. historical and political) that influence its intensity and 
continuity. According to Heilbron (1999), the position of a language in the international 
translation system is determined by the proportion of its literature translated into other 
languages. A central position indicates a high number of translations from that lan-
guage, while translations from peripheral languages are less frequent (Heilbron, 1999). 
In Heilbron’s model,2 languages are categorised into four positions: hyper-central, oc-
cupied by English with 55–60% (Heilbron, 2010, 2)3 of all books translated worldwide; 
central, with 10–12% of the international translation market; semi-peripheral, with 
1–3%; and peripheral, with less than 1% (Heilbron, 1999, 9–10; 2010, 2).
To analyse the extent of translations of Slovenian literature into different EU 
languages, we have selected languages from different geographical regions. We hy-
pothesise that geographical proximity to Slovenia influences literary exchange and that 
languages within the same geographical region may show similar patterns. Following 
the EuroVoc classification (Publications Office of the European Union, n.d.), our study 
focuses on western, eastern, northern (including languages of Nordic and Baltic states) 
and southern European languages. We examine translations in 16 languages categorised 
1 This article is the result of research carried out in the research programme P6-0265 Intercultural Literary 
Studies, co-funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) in 2019–2024.
2 Similar, albeit less complex, models for classifying languages within the global language system have 
been proposed by scholars such as de Swaan (2001; 2010), who ranked languages based on the number 
of non-native speakers, and Casanova (2002; 2004), who integrated the number of non-native speakers 
and language users with the number of literary translators working to and from a language. However, 
Heilbron’s approach is the most suitable for this study, as his classification criterion focuses on the num-
ber of book translations.
3 This proportion could be even higher, as Heilbron (2020, 137) states that in 2002 over 60% of all book 
translations worldwide originated from English.
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as central (French, German), semi-peripheral (Italian, Spanish, Swedish) and peripheral 
(Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, 
Portuguese, Romanian) according to Heilbron’s world system of translation (van Es & 
Heilbron, 2015, 297). Our results will show whether translation flows from Slovenian 
into these4 languages correspond to Heilbron’s model.
This comparative analysis of literary translation flows from Slovenian into 16 
languages5 examines bibliographic data on book translations (prose, poetry, drama)6 
from the Slovenian COBIB bibliographic database.7 The study begins in 1991, the 
year in which Slovenia became an independent state, thereby losing part of the former 
Yugoslav translation market and seeking integration into the wider European literary 
sphere (Bučar & Udovič, 2023; Leben, 2023, 460).
With Slovenia’s accession to the EU in 2004, the country’s visibility gradually in-
creased. One of the main objectives of this research is to determine whether European 
integration has increased interest in Slovenian literature in EU Member States compared 
to the pre-2004 period, and whether it has led to a greater quantity and diversity of 
literary translations from Slovenian. The study collects data on published translations 
from 1991 to June 2024 and analyses them by decade (1991–2000, 2001–2010 and 
2011–2020). For the period 2021–2024, the focus is on the average number of books 
published per year to enable a comparison with previous decades. In addition, the col-
lected data is supplemented by interviews with experts on the literary book market, 
which shed light on how the Slovenian book market has responded to European integra-
tion.
The EU encourages literary translation to make the diverse literary heritage of its 
Member States accessible to all European citizens. This initiative not only enriches the 
4 Certain languages, such as English and most Slavic languages – with the exception of Bulgarian due 
to its geographical proximity to Romanian – were excluded from the study, as their inclusion would go 
beyond the scope of this article. Moreover, the translation of Slovenian literature into many of the omit-
ted languages has already been addressed in previous research (cf., e.g., Pokorn et al., 2023). For further 
analyses of translations into Slavic languages, including Czech, Polish and Slovak, cf. Žbogar (2014).
5 Our analysis shows some discrepancies with statistical data for 10 (semi-)peripheral languages collected 
by Mikolič Južnič and Pokorn (2023, 908). For six other languages, descriptive overviews of published 
translations can be found in Pokorn et al. (2023).
6 Only translations published in book form, including ebooks, are considered in this article, while transla-
tions published in literary magazines and unpublished dramatic works commissioned by theatres are 
excluded. Anthologies and reprints are also included in the analysis.
7 According to the Institute of Information Science (2024), the COBIB database most likely does not contain 
all translations of Slovenian literature published abroad, as foreign publishers are not always required to 
submit copies of their publications to a repository, in our case the National and University Library of Slo-
venia (NUK). However, the NUK strives to acquire as many translations of Slovenian authors published 
abroad as possible in order to include them in the national Slovenika collection, which contains “all works 
which were either edited or published in Slovenia, refer to Slovenia [and Slovenians], and were written in 
the Slovenian language or […] by Slovenian authors” (National and University Library, n.d.). In addition, 
authors often donate copies of their translations to libraries, which leads to the creation of bibliographic 
records, or they may request the creation of such records to facilitate the compilation of a bibliography (In-
stitute of Information Science, 2024). In this sense, we believe that the translations recorded for this study 
represent the vast majority of all translations published in Slovenia as well as abroad.
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European literary landscape, but also fosters a deeper appreciation of the continent’s 
cultural diversity. The main mechanism for supporting “the translation, publication, 
distribution and promotion of works of fiction” from both EU Member States and 
non-EU countries is the Creative Europe programme (European Commission, n.d., 
Circulation of European Literary Works). This programme “supports over 500 book 
translations every year in more than 40 original and 30 target languages” (European 
Commission, n.d., Books and Publishing).
The programme also funds the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), which 
is awarded annually to “the best emerging fiction writers8 in Europe” (European Union 
Prize for Literature, n.d.). Since the prize was introduced in 2009 and up to 2017, 
“almost 1,000 translations have resulted from the award” (Wischenbart et al., 2020, 
53), which corresponds to an average of around 125 translations per year. The Creative 
Europe programme encourages the translation of works that have been awarded the 
EUPL by providing translation grants to publishers. Without the EUPL, authors who 
write in peripheral languages and come from smaller markets would probably receive 
far less international visibility and fewer translation opportunities (Wischenbart et al., 
2016, 42f.).
So far, four Slovenian authors have received the EUPL: Nataša Kramberger (Heaven 
in a Blackberry Bush: Novel in Stories, 2010), Gabriela Babnik (Dry Season, 2013), 
Jasmin B. Frelih (In/Half, 2016) and Anja Mugerli (Bee Family, 2021). Tina Vrščaj also 
received a special mention in 2024 for her novel On Slope. According to the COBIB 
database, these authors did not have any of their works translated before receiving 
the award.9 Another aim of this study is therefore to investigate whether the EUPL 
Prize has influenced the translation of these Slovenian authors’ works into the observed 
languages.
CHARTING SLOVENIAN LITERATURE’S 
TRANSLATION FLOWS INTO 16 EU LANGUAGES
Western European languages (Dutch, French and German)
Among the western European languages, translation activity into German has been 
the highest since 1991 (804 published book editions), followed by French (223), while 
the figures for Dutch (31) are significantly lower. Translations into German and French 
recorded steady growth between 1991 and 2020. Over the three decades, the share of 
German translations increased from 24.2% in 1991–2000 to 36.1% in 2001–2010, and 
further to 39.7% in 2011–2020. Similarly, the share of French translations increased 
from 22.5% to 33.5% and then to 44%, respectively. In contrast, translations into Dutch 
8 In addition to a cash prize of €5,000, each EUPL prizewinner receives institutional support for the trans-
lation and promotion of their work.
9 However, prior to receiving the award, some of their short stories or excerpts from novels had been pub-
lished in literary magazines or anthologies, usually featuring non-award-winning works.
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were initially minimal, with only four editions in the first decade and three in the second. 
However, the period 2011–2020 saw a sharp increase, with 19 editions accounting for 
73.1% of the total. The average annual number of translations (Chart 1) into German 
increased significantly from 25.3 books per year in 2011–2020 to 41.75 books per year 
in 2021–2024. Conversely, the number of translations into French fell from an average 
of 9.2 books per year to 3.5 books per year in the same periods. There was also a slight 
decline in translations into Dutch, from an average of 1.9 books per year in 2011–2020 
to 1.25 books per year in 2021–2024.
In the first decade (1991–2000), prose accounted for the largest share of translations 
into German, while poetry had the highest share (38%) compared to other periods. This 
was partly due to the 10 publications of the Slovenian Romantic poet France Prešeren, 
which were mainly published by Slovenian publishers and the Austrian Hermagoras 
Society. Other frequently translated poets were Kajetan Kovič (7 editions), Srečko 
Kosovel (5) and Gustav Januš (4). Among prose authors, Ivan Cankar (8) took the lead 
ahead of contemporary authors such as Drago Jančar, Florjan Lipuš and Žarko Petan. 
Poetry was translated most often into French, led by France Prešeren (8 editions), fol-
lowed by Dane Zajc (3), Boris A. Novak (3), Tomaž Šalamun (2) and Veno Taufer (2). 
Among the prose authors, Boris Pahor (4), Kajetan Kovič (3) and Vladimir Bartol (2) 
were translated most often. Translations into Dutch included only two novels by Drago 
Jančar and two volumes of poetry by Tomaž Šalamun and Veno Taufer, which were 
co-financed by the Slovenian Trubar Foundation.
Chart 1: Average number of translations per year from 1991 to 2024 in some western 
European languages.
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In the next decade (2001–2010), prose continued to dominate in German and poetry 
in French, while the diversity of literary genres increased. The classic authors began 
to fade, although Ivan Cankar remained represented with six editions in German and 
France Prešeren with four editions in French. Contemporary authors dominated the 
translations: Boris Pahor (12 editions in German, 8 in French), Florjan Lipuš (10 in 
German) and Lila Prap (9 picture books in German, 5 in French). Other frequently 
translated authors were Drago Jančar (7 in German, 5 in French) and Tomaž Šalamun 
(6 in German, 4 in French). Only three prose works were published in Dutch: two by 
Lojze Kovačič and one by Vitan Mal.
During the third period (2011–2020), translations into German, French and Dutch 
reached their peak. Prose continued to dominate in the German translations, and sur-
passed poetry for the first time in French, doing so to such a degree that prose titles 
ended up outnumbering the French translations of poetry for the overall 33.5-year period 
examined in this study. In Dutch translations, poetry increased, as did the number of 
novels (6 each). The range of genres widened, with more picture books in German (51) 
and French (15) and the first picture books (3) and a comic book in Dutch. The number 
of comics in German (6) and French (4) also increased due to their growing popularity 
alongside graphic novels (Kac, 2024). The most important authors in German included 
Drago Jančar, Florjan Lipuš, Evald Flisar and Mojca Stubelj Ars (7 editions each), as well 
as Lila Prap and Prežihov Voranc (6 each). In French, the most important authors were 
Drago Jančar (13), Boris Pahor (6), Vladimir Bartol (4) and Lila Prap (4). After 2010, 
Dutch translations focused on established authors such as Pahor and Kovačič, reflecting 
an international trend towards autobiographical novels (Zamida, 2024). After 2014, con-
temporary Slovenian poets (e.g. Andrej Hočevar), comic authors (Ciril Horjak and Rok 
Jurič), picture books (e.g. Helena Kraljič) and fairy tales (Tanja Galli) were translated 
into Dutch, along with internationally recognised authors such as Drago Jančar (3 books).
Translation activity from Slovenian into German has increased significantly in 
the last four years (2021–2024), which is largely due to Slovenia’s status as Guest of 
Honour at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, bringing greater visibility and better sales 
for the publishers (Stergar, 2024). Prose remained the genre most often translated into 
German, with translations of picture books just ahead of novels. Prežihov Voranc was 
the author most often translated into German, with five editions appearing in collabora-
tion with Carinthian publishers (Wieser, Drava) and a Trieste publisher (Založništvo 
tržaškega tiska). Contemporary authors such as Jana Bauer, Drago Jančar, Božena Boža 
Lesjak, Anja Štefan, Aleš Šteger and Goran Vojnović were also frequently translated. In 
French, poetry (8 editions) surpassed prose (6). In addition to Drago Jančar and Florjan 
Lipuš, the lesser-known writers Mojca Stubelj Ars and Agata Tomažič were also trans-
lated into French. Five books were translated into Dutch during this period, including a 
novel by Jančar, three picture books and an anthology of Slovenian folk tales.
Approximately one third of all translations into German, French and Dutch were 
published in Slovenia, with the majority published abroad (68% for German and Dutch 
translations, 64% for French). More than a third of the Dutch translations were spon-
sored by the Slovenian Book Agency and/or the Trubar Foundation.
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Southern European languages (Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish)
The analysis of the bibliographic data on literary translations from Slovenian into 
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek between 1991 and 2024 shows that Italian is 
the predominant language among the southern European countries. With a total of 558 
translated works, Italian far outstrips Spanish with 268 translations and is well ahead of 
Portuguese (42) and Greek (36).
Over the first three decades (1991–2020), the number of translations into these four 
languages increased significantly. Italian translations rose from 23.1% (1991–2000) to 
34.6% (2001–2020) and finally to 42.3% (2011–2020). Spanish translations increased 
from 13.7% to 32.7% and finally to 53.5% in the same periods. Portuguese transla-
tions rose from 9.1% (3 books) to 18.2%, eventually reaching 72.7% (24 books), while 
growth in Greek rose from 9.5% (2 books) to 28.6%, reaching 61.9% (13 books) in 
2011–2020. From 2021 to 2024, however, there was a slight decline in the average 
number of translations per year (Chart 2): Italian fell from 20.5 (2011–2020) to 18.25, 
Spanish from 12.1 to 10.75 and Portuguese from 2.4 to 2.25. In contrast, translations 
into Greek rose from 1.3 to 3.75 published books per year.
In the first decade after Slovenia’s independence (1991–2000), poetry was the genre 
most often translated into Italian, mirroring the trend in other western European lan-
guages. Notable poets include France Prešeren (6 editions), Kajetan Kovič (5, including 
a novel), Srečko Kosovel (4) and Marko Kravos (3, including a picture book). Among 
the prose authors, Dušan Jelinčič had three editions. In the 1990s, 77% of Slovenian 
translations into Spanish were poetry, with 62.5% published within Slovenia (e.g. Ka-
jetan Kovič, Boris A. Novak, Dane Zajc). Only two editions (by Alojz Ihan and Tomaž 
Chart 2: Average number of translations per year from 1991 to 2024 in some south-
ern European languages.
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Šalamun) were published in Spain, and two in Argentina by members of the Slovenian 
community (Igor Moder and Tone Rode). Slovenian prose translations into Spanish 
were limited: only one work by Andrej Blatnik was published in Spain, the rest were 
published in Slovenia or Italy by the Slovenian national minority. During this period, 
only two works by Petan were translated into Greek and published in Athens, while 
three anthologies of Slovenian poetry and other genres were translated into Portuguese 
and published in Ljubljana.
Between 2001 and 2010, translations of Slovenian poetry into Italian increased 
considerably, as did those of picture books and comics. Contemporary authors are 
translated most often, led by Boris Pahor10 with 17 editions, followed by Dušan 
Jelinčič (8), Marko Kravos (5) and both Lila Prap and Brane Mozetič (4 each). 
Prose and poetry are almost equally represented among the translations into Span-
ish. A large proportion of these translations (35.1%) were published in Slovenia, 
and many also in Latin America (32.4%) and Spain (31.1%). Lila Prap is the au-
thor most often translated into Spanish, with nine editions of her picture books, 
mainly in Latin America. She is followed by Vladimir Bartol (4 editions of Alamut) 
and two volumes of poetry each by Srečko Kosovel, Brane Mozetič and France 
Prešeren, most of which were published in Spain. Other notable Slovenian authors 
published in Spain include Drago Jančar, Lojze Kovačič and Boris Pahor, while 
Alojz Gradnik, Svetlana Makarovič and Tomaž Šalamun were published in Latin 
America. Slovenian publishers have also contributed to the publication of works by 
Miha Mazzini, Tone Pavček and several anthologies.
Translations into Portuguese have doubled in this decade (to 6 editions), includ-
ing three picture books by Lila Prap published in São Paulo and works by Ivan 
Cankar and Brane Mozetič in Portugal. Translations into Modern Greek increased 
from two to six, including mainly contemporary prose (e.g. by Evald Flisar, Boris 
Pahor and Brina Svit). In addition, an anthology covering various genres was pub-
lished in Greek in Slovenia.
Between 2011 and 2020, translations into Italian, Spanish and Portuguese 
reached their peak. Numerous works by Ivan Cankar, a key figure of Slovenian 
modernism, were translated into Italian (9 editions in Slovenia or in the Trieste 
region). He was followed by Boris Pahor and Srečko Kosovel (7 editions each), and 
other frequently translated authors were Marko Kravos (6), Alojz Rebula (6), Dušan 
Jelinčič (5) and Mojca Stubelj Ars (5). Translations into Spanish were published 
in Slovenia (37.2%), Latin America (30.6%) and Spain (27.3%). Prose surpassed 
poetry, partly due to the increase in translated picture books by Helena Kraljič (8 
editions), Peter Svetina (7) and Jana Bauer (6). Brane Mozetič was the leader in 
adult literature with nine editions, followed by Karel Destovnik, Drago Jančar and 
Goran Vojnović (2 editions each).
The Portuguese translations grew mainly due to the picture books published in 
Brazil, especially by Helena Kraljič. There was a balance in translations into Greek 
10 On the translations of Pahor’s prose into Italian and French, cf. Mezeg and Grego (2022).
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between poetry (by Aleš Jelenko, Aljaž Koprivnikar, Brane Mozetič and Srečko 
Kosovel) and prose, including children’s literature by Maša Ogrizek and two novels 
published in Athens by Gabriela Babnik and Drago Jančar.
Since 2021, picture books have been the genre most often translated into Ital-
ian, which is probably due to Slovenia’s role as Guest of Honour at the Bologna 
Children’s Book Fair in 2024. However, in contrast to the increase in German 
translations after the Frankfurt Book Fair, there was no comparable increase in 
Italian translations. According to Stergar (2024), the Bologna project did not 
produce the expected results. Only one Slovenian publisher, KUD Sodobnost, 
has significantly increased its translations (16 editions). Nevertheless, Stergar 
(2024) remains optimistic about the future impact of the Bologna project. No-
table translations in the last four years include picture books by Tadeja Pirnat 
(published in Ljubljana) and works by Marko Kravos (3 editions each) as well 
as Peter Svetina and Goran Vojnović (2 editions each).
The more recent translations into Spanish are predominantly prose, with 
children’s literature, which is mainly published in Slovenia, being translated 
more often than adult literature. The proportion of translations published in 
Slovenia has risen to 58.1%, while the proportion of translations published in 
Latin America is less than 10%. Around a third (32.6%) is published in Spain, 
including prose for adults by Miha Mazzini and Goran Vojnović, picture books 
by Helena Kraljič, comics by Damijan Stepančič, poetry by Gorazd Kocijančič, 
Brane Mozetič and Lucija Stupica and a drama by Tone Partljič.
The number of translations into Portuguese remains low and is mainly fo-
cused on children’s literature, which is mostly published in Brazil (e.g. Manica 
Klenovšek Musil, Ida Mlakar Črnič) or Portugal (Peter Svetina). Around a third 
of the Spanish translations relate exclusively to poetry published in Slovenia, 
including an anthology and works by Samo Dražumerič and Srečko Kosovel. 
The translations into Greek are mainly contemporary prose, divided almost 
equally between literature for adults and children. The adult literature includes 
works by Jasmin B. Frelih, Drago Jančar, Evald Flisar (2 works), Lojze Kovačič 
and Marko Sosič. In children’s literature, three works by Brane Mozetič have 
been translated into Greek.
In the 33.5-year period analysed, translations into Greek have the high-
est percentage of publications within their home country (78% published in 
Greece). Italy follows with 62.5% of translations published there, while 31% 
of translations into Italian are published in Slovenia. Slovenia also plays an 
important role in translations into Spanish: 42.8% are published in Slovenia, 
compared to 27.5% in Spain and 25.6% in Latin America, which emphasises the 
strong influence of Slovenian local initiatives. The geographical distribution 
of Portuguese translations shows a different pattern: only 19% are published in 
Portugal, while 31% are published in Slovenia. Brazil is an important hub, with 
50% of translations into Portuguese published there, demonstrating the global 
reach of Slovenian literature.
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Languages of Nordic (Danish, Finnish, Swedish) and 
Baltic (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian) states
The data show different trends in Slovenian literary translations into northern 
European languages, with Swedish leading the way with 28 translations, followed 
by Finnish and Lithuanian with 21 and 20 translations, respectively. Danish and 
Latvian have 13 and 12 translations, respectively, while Estonian has the fewest 
translations (6). Translation activity was modest in the first decade, but increased 
significantly between 2001 and 2010: translations into Finnish rose from two to 10, 
into Swedish from two to nine, into Danish from one to eight and into Lithuanian 
from two to four. In the third decade (2011–2020), translations into Finnish and 
Danish fell to four and three, respectively, while translations into Swedish and 
Lithuanian rose to 14 and 11, respectively. This period also saw the first translations 
into Estonian (4) and Latvian (5). A comparison of 2011–2020 with 2021–2024 
shows a significant increase in the average annual number of translations (Chart 3) 
into Latvian (from 0.5 to 1.75) and Finnish (from 0.4 to 1.25) and a slight increase 
into Estonian (from 0.4 to 0.5). In contrast, translations into Swedish and Lithu-
anian fell (from 1.4 to 0.75 and 1.1 to 0.75, respectively), as did those into Danish 
(from 0.3 to 0.25).
Between 1991 and 2000, a volume of poetry and a novel by Maja Novak were 
translated from Slovenian into Finnish, poems by Tomaž Šalamun and Dane Zajc 
into Swedish, and poems by Šalamun and a fairy tale by Polonca Kovač into Lithu-
anian. While Danish received a translation of an anthology, there were no transla-
tions into Estonian and Latvian.
During 2001–2010, the number and variety of Slovenian literary translations 
increased significantly. The Finnish translations included prose by Evald Flisar, 
Boris Pahor and Vladimir Bartol, while the number of poetry translations was 
smaller (an anthology and poems by Tomaž Šalamun and Aleš Debeljak). More 
poems (by Aleš Šteger, Lucija Stupica and Šalamun) were translated into Swed-
ish and less prose (Fran Levstik, Aleš Šteger, Alojz Rebula). Danish translations 
increased mainly due to the picture books by Lila Prap, Mojca Osojnik and 
Cvetka Sokolov. Translations into Lithuanian doubled (to 4 editions), including 
anthologies and poems by Aleš Debeljak. No Slovenian literary translations 
were made into Estonian or Latvian during this period, even though these coun-
tries joined the EU together with Slovenia in 2004.
In the third decade, the Danish translations were exclusively fiction prose (e.g. 
Feri Lainšček, Nataša Kramberger). In Finnish translations, prose (e.g. Drago 
Jančar) predominates over poetry (Srečko Kosovel), while Swedish translations 
include picture books (Lila Prap, Tina Orter, Brane Mozetič), comics (Iztok Sitar, 
Tanja Komadina) and novels (Boris Pahor, Goran Vojnović). Translations into Esto-
nian, Latvian and Lithuanian have focused mainly on picture books by authors such 
as Majda Koren, Peter Svetina and Jana Bauer, as well as some prose for adults by 
Gabriela Babnik (Latvian) and Vladimir Bartol and Goran Vojnović (Lithuanian).
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Between 2021 and 2024, translations into Finnish and Latvian increased, mainly 
through picture books (Jana Bauer for Finnish and Latvian; Andreja Peklar for 
Finnish, Ida Mlakar Črnič for Latvian) and novels (Drago Jančar for Finnish; 
Evald Flisar and Vinko Möderndorfer for Latvian). Poetry translations were less 
frequent, with notable works including Bratko Brelih’s poems in Finnish and an 
LGBT anthology in Latvian (2022). Two children’s books have been translated into 
Estonian, including Josip Jurčič’s The Goat Trial of Višnja Gora, which was also 
published in Danish (2014), Latvian and Lithuanian (2021) in Slovenia. Transla-
tions into Swedish, Danish and Lithuanian have declined. Notable Swedish transla-
tions include Katja Perat’s The Masochist and Lucija Stupica’s poetry. Jančar’s I 
Saw Her That Night was translated into Lithuanian (2021) and Danish (2022), while 
Vojnović’s The Fig Tree was only translated into Lithuanian.
Since Slovenia’s accession to the EU, most translations have been published by 
Nordic and Baltic publishers. The average number of translated books per year has 
increased very slowly and still does not reach one book per year in most languages, 
except Finnish and Latvian.
Eastern European languages (Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian)
From 1991 to 2024, translations from Slovenian into Hungarian were the most 
common (94), followed by those into Bulgarian (68) and Romanian (28). The num-
ber of Hungarian translations rose from 19.5% (1991–2000) to 48.3% (2001–2010) 
and then fell to 32.2% (2011–2020). The number of Bulgarian translations increased 
Chart 3: Average number of translations per year from 1991 to 2024 in some north-
ern European languages.
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steadily from 2.1% (1991–2000) to 18.75% (2001–2010) and then rose to 79.2% 
(2011–2020). The number of Romanian translations rose steadily from 8.7% 
(1991–2000) to 34.8% (2001–2010), reaching a peak of 56.5% (2011–2020). From 
2021–2024, the average annual translation figures (Chart 4) for Hungarian (from 
2.8 to 1.75) and Romanian (from 1.3 to 1.25) decreased, but increased for Bulgarian 
(from 3.8 to 5).
In the 1990s, both prose (e.g. by Drago Jančar, Feri Lainšček, Kajetan Kovič) 
and poetry (e.g. by Aleš Debeljak, Edvard Kocbek, Janko Messner, France 
Prešeren, Tomaž Šalamun) were translated into Hungarian. It is noteworthy 
that about 30% of these translations were published in Slovenia, reflecting a 
significant Slovenian initiative. In particular, the Slovenians facilitated the 
publication of two volumes of poetry by Kajetan Kovič and one by France 
Prešeren, as well as prose works by Ivan Bizjak and Feri Lainšček. In contrast, 
translations into Romanian and Bulgarian were rare, with only two Romanian 
translations (works by Žarko Petan and Prežihov Voranc) and one Bulgarian 
translation (poems by Cvetka Lipuš).
Between 2001 and 2010, translations from Slovenian into Hungarian, Bulgarian 
and Romanian increased in various genres. In Hungarian, poetry (e.g. by Srečko 
Kosovel, Aleš Šteger, Dane Zajc) slightly outweighs prose (e.g. two novels by 
Drago Jančar and Alamut by Vladimir Bartol). Several picture books (e.g. by Bar-
bara Hanuš, Mojca Kumerdej, Lila Prap, Svetlana Makarovič) have been published, 
mostly in Slovenia or Austria, with the exception of Lila Prap’s Miért? (Zakaj?/
Why?) published in Budapest. Poetry collections (e.g. by Tone Dodlek, Štefan 
Huzjan, Feri Lainšček, Janko Messner) were also mostly published in Slovenia or 
Austria. Overall, 78% of the translations were published in Hungary, including a 
drama by Evgen Car and several anthologies.
The increase in Bulgarian translations is mainly due to contemporary poetry 
(e.g. by Ivan Dobnik, Kajetan Kovič, Brane Mozetič, Aleš Šteger), while only two 
prose works (by Drago Jančar and Slavko Pregl) were published during this dec-
ade. Romanian translations increased mainly due to children’s books (e.g. by Desa 
Muck, Marjeta Novak-Kajzer, Ela Peroci, Anja Štefan), but also poetry (by Srečko 
Kosovel, Tomaž Šalamun) and an anthology of prose.
In the decade from 2011 to 2020, Hungarian translations declined, mainly due to 
a significant decrease in translations of poetry. These were mainly published in Hun-
gary and included works by Aleš Debeljak and Tomaž Šalamun. Prose translations 
remained stable, with 39% published in Slovenia, including children’s literature 
and short prose by Sandi Horvat. Hungarian publishers focused on contemporary 
authors (e.g. Gabriela Babnik, Jasmin B. Frelih, Drago Jančar, Lojze Kozar, Miha 
Mazzini, Dušan Šarotar, Suzana Tratnik) and also published two dramas by Evald 
Flisar and an anthology of various genres.
In the Bulgarian language area, translations of poetry (e.g. by Ivan Cankar, 
Aleš Debeljak, Iztok Osojnik, Josip Osti, Tomaž Šalamun, Aleš Šteger) remained 
stable. There was a significant increase in prose in particular, which rose from 
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two works in the previous decade to 25. Drago Jančar was the most frequently 
represented author with five works. Other contemporary Slovenian writers who 
were translated into Bulgarian were Vladimir Bartol, Evald Flisar, Tadej Golob, 
Slavko Pregl, Janja Vidmar and Goran Vojnović. Some children’s literature (e.g. by 
Helena Kraljič, Frane Milčinski) was also published. Romanian translations mainly 
included prose for adults (e.g. by Boris Pahor, Goran Vojnović) and picture books 
by Helena Kraljič, while translations of poetry were rarer, with notable exceptions 
such as Aleš Debeljak and Jana Putrle Srdić.
From 2021 to 2024, translations into Bulgarian increased significantly, aver-
aging five works per year. Around 90% of these translations were prose, including 
novels by contemporary authors (e.g. Drago Jančar, Anja Mugerli, Suzana Trat-
nik, Goran Vojnović, Bronja Žakelj). In addition, numerous picture books (e.g. by 
Špela Frlic, Helena Kraljič, Desa Muck) and only two volumes of poetry by Esad 
Babačić and France Prešeren have been translated into Bulgarian. Translation 
activity into Romanian has declined slightly. Notable translations include two 
editions of fairy tales by Jana Bauer and a novel by Suzana Tratnik. In contrast, 
the number of translations into Hungarian fell to less than two books per year, 
of which only three were published in Hungary: prose by Borut Kraševec, Feri 
Lainšček and Anja Mugerli.
Overall, a significant proportion of translations into Hungarian (28%) were pub-
lished in Slovenia, which can be due to the fact that Hungarian is recognised there 
as a minority language. In contrast, most translations into Bulgarian and Romanian 
were published abroad (96% in Bulgaria and 86% in Romania).
Chart 4: Average number of translations per year from 1991 to 2024 in some eastern 
European languages.
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DIVERGENCE IN TRANSLATION: CENTRAL VS. 
(SEMI-)PERIPHERAL EU LANGUAGES
An overview of translation activity for all the languages shows that a total of 
2,253 translations of Slovenian literature have been published since 1991 (Chart 5). 
Four target languages had a significantly higher number of translations compared 
to the others – first and foremost German as the central language (804), followed 
by two semi-peripheral Romance languages, Italian (558) and Spanish (269), and 
another central Romance language, French (223).
Fewer translations were published in the other, mostly peripheral languages, with 
the highest number in Hungarian (94) and Bulgarian (68). Languages with 20 to 45 
editions include Portuguese (42), Greek (36), Dutch (31), Swedish (28), Romanian 
(28), Finnish (21) and Lithuanian (20). Fewer than 15 works were translated into 
Danish (13), Latvian (12) and Estonian (6) in the last 33.5 years.
Chart 5: Total number of translations from 1991 to 2024 in all languages observed.
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The analysis of the average number of translations published per year shows 
that such activity has increased for most of the 16 languages since 1991 and up 
to 2011–2020. The exceptions are translations into Estonian and Latvian (first 
published in 2015), Danish and Hungarian (declining since the 2010s) and Finnish 
and Dutch, where translation activity has fluctuated. Translation trends since 2021 
show that Slovenian literature is experiencing increasing growth in some languages 
(German, Latvian, Finnish, Estonian, Greek, Bulgarian), while this trend is re-
versed in others (French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Lithuanian, 
Danish, Hungarian, Romanian). It should be noted that there were also COVID-19 
lockdowns during this period, which led to book publications being postponed or 
cancelled due to lower sales (Kovač & Gudinavičius, 2020, 20–22).
After Slovenia’s accession to the EU, translation activity increased in all the 
languages surveyed (Chart 6). While we recorded no translations into Estonian and 
Latvian before 2015, there were six and 12 published editions, respectively, in the 
subsequent period. In other, mostly peripheral languages, there was an average of 
less than 0.5 translations per year before 2004. After 2004, for some of these (Dan-
ish, Finnish, Lithuanian) the number of translations increased minimally to less 
than one per year after 2004 (around 0.5–0.8). In other cases (Dutch, Swedish, Ro-
manian, Greek, Portuguese) an average of between one and 1.85 translations were 
published after 2004, while in Bulgarian an average of around three translations 
were published per year. Although there was some increase recorded in translation 
activity in these languages, the total number of translations from 1991 to 2024 was 
still very low for each language, ranging from 13 to 68 (Chart 5). In contrast to the 
Chart 6: Average number of translations per year in the periods since Slovenia’s 
independence and after joining the EU in all observed languages.
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other peripheral languages, Hungarian had a higher average number of published 
translations per year before 2004 (1.9), but recorded a smaller increase after 2004, 
with around 3.3 published translations.
The largest increase in the average number of translations per year after Slo-
venia’s accession to the EU was recorded in the countries with the highest total 
number of translated editions. In first place is central German, where translation 
activity almost doubled after 2004 (an increase from almost 16 books per year 
to almost 29). This is followed by semi-peripheral Italian (an increase of almost 
8 books) and Spanish (an increase of almost 7 books). Slovenia’s accession to 
the EU had the least impact on translations into central French, where around 
2.5 more translations per year were published after 2004.
An analysis of the distribution of translations of Slovenian literature into 
16 different languages since 1991 leads to some interesting observations. For 
example, 35.7% of all translations were into German, which shows that this 
language is the most central and thus also the main target language for Slo-
venian literary export. Italian (24.8%) and Spanish (11.9%), which belong to 
the semi-peripheral languages in the international translation system, have a 
more central position for Slovenian literature than French (9.9%). In the case 
of Slovenian literature, however, all four languages are central, as translations 
in each language account for more than 10% of the total. Between one and 
about four percent of the translations were published in semi-peripheral Swed-
ish (1.2%) and some peripheral languages – Hungarian (4.2%), Bulgarian (3%), 
Portuguese (1.9%), Greek (1.6%), Dutch (1.4%) and Romanian (1.2%) – which 
means these languages are semi-peripheral for Slovenian literature. In contrast, 
the smallest number (less than 1%) was translated into other peripheral lan-
guages – Finnish (0.9%), Lithuanian (0.9%), Danish (0.6%), Latvian (0.5%) and 
Estonian (0.3%). In other words, the position of some languages has changed 
in the case of translated Slovenian literature compared to the global translation 
system (Heilbron, 1999), as some of them have moved more to the centre (Ital-
ian, Spanish) or semi-centre (Hungarian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, 
Romanian). Translations into more central languages play a very important role, 
as they can stimulate translations into peripheral languages (Heilbron, 2020, 
141). However, this trend can also work in the opposite direction, as transla-
tions into peripheral languages can be seen as a kind of confirmation of quality 
for publishers in more central markets, and this can lead to more translation 
rights being sold there (Kac, 2024).
The analysis shows that translated authors and genres have changed over 
time. In the 1990s, classic authors and poetry took centre stage, but in the period 
after 2001, and especially after 2011, prose by both established and emerging 
contemporary authors and new genres such as picture books, fairy tales and 
comics were strongly represented. Among the translated authors are also four 
Slovenian EUPL laureates, whose award-winning and non-award-winning works 
were translated into various languages after receiving the prize. Looking at the 
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translations into 16 languages examined in this article,11 Gabriela Babnik stands 
out with eight editions in seven different languages (French,12 German, Italian, 
Bulgarian, Hungarian, Latvian, Greek). Nataša Kramberger follows with five 
translations in three languages (2 translations into German,13 2 into Italian, 1 
into Danish). The most recent laureates, Jasmin B. Frelih and Anja Mugerli, 
each have three translations in three different languages (both in Hungarian and 
Italian, Frelih also in Greek and Mugerli in Bulgarian).
An overview of the translations of Slovenian EUPL authors into the 16 
languages shows that 10 editions were published in semi-peripheral (Italian) or 
central (German, French) languages, thus only slightly exceeding the number 
of translations into peripheral languages (9). All translations were published 
abroad, with the exception of the two French translations, which were published 
in Slovenia. Looking at the additional translations beyond the 16 languages 
discussed here (cf. footnote 11), most were translated into peripheral languages 
(58%). The translations based on the works of Slovenian EUPL authors account 
for a relatively small proportion, namely 1.5% of all translations into the 16 
languages since 2011.
CONCLUSION
Following Slovenia’s accession to the EU, the desire of the Slovenian literary 
market to promote its literature throughout Europe increased significantly. This can 
be seen in the rise in published translations in all 16 languages examined, as well 
as in the wider range of translated authors and literary genres. This trend has been 
particularly noticeable since the 2000s.
Since 2004, the average number of published translations per year has risen 
in all languages. This growth has been strongest in German (almost 13 additional 
books per year), Italian (almost 8 additional books) and Spanish (almost 7 addi-
tional books), where translation activity was already strong before 2004. Moderate 
increases of between one and three additional books per year were observed in 
Romanian (+1.09), Greek (+1.34), Hungarian (+1.36), Portuguese (+1.62), French 
(+2.52) and Bulgarian (+2.73). In contrast, the increase was minimal (less than 
1 additional book per year) in most peripheral languages (in descending order: 
Swedish, Dutch, Lithuanian, Latvian, Finnish, Danish and Estonian), which have 
maintained a modest total number of translations since 1991.
11 In addition to the 16 languages observed, Slovenian EUPL authors were also translated into English (5 
editions), Serbian (4), Croatian (4), Czech (2), Polish (1) and Macedonian (1).
12 In addition to the printed book, the French translation was also published as an ebook, both times by the 
Slovene Writers’ Association in Ljubljana.
13 The German publisher of Nataša Kramberger’s non-award-winning books Comparable Hectares (2021) 
and Mauerpfeffer (Kdo bo z mano prosil za dež?/Who Will Ask for Rain with Me?) (2023) reported that 
the first book sold very well, partly because the author was already known in the network of literary 
houses after winning the EUPL (Listau, 2023).
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The strongest translation activity for Slovenian literature was observed in Ger-
man and Italian, which can be attributed to the geographical proximity and cultural, 
historical and political connections between Slovenia and the countries of the target 
languages, and partly also to the presence of Slovenian minorities in Austria and Italy 
(cf. Mezeg et al., 2024, 214f.; Rozman et al., 2023). This supports the trend that authors 
from peripheral languages are often translated into “a cultural centre that is not too 
dominant and that is geographically ‘close to home’” (Heilbron, 2020, 141). However, 
although Slovenia and Hungary are neighbouring countries, access to the Hungarian 
book market has proven difficult. According to Senja Požar (2024), it is more difficult 
to penetrate the Hungarian market than the French one. This difficulty is attributed 
to the Hungarian perception that Slovenia is too close to Hungary and that Slovenian 
books are less attractive due to the abundance of similar literature already available in 
Hungary (Požar, 2024). This perception may have contributed to the decline in transla-
tions into Hungarian since the 2010s. Despite these challenges, Požar (2024) managed 
to sell rights for some adult literature, excluding picture books, in preparation for the 
2023 Frankfurt Book Fair. The hypothesis about the influence of geographical prox-
imity on literary exchange is thus only partially confirmed. In most of the languages 
observed, around a third or less of the translations were published in Slovenia, with 
Spanish standing out with 42.8% of the translations being published in Slovenia, which 
indicates strong local initiatives to translate Slovenian literature into this language.
The predominant position of German translations is also due to the Frankfurt Book 
Fair, where Slovenia was the Guest of Honour in 2023. As part of this initiative, the 
Republic of Slovenia and EU (through the European Regional Development Fund) 
provided funding to increase the number of translations into German and promote them 
in German-speaking countries (JAK, 2019, 25, 31; 2024). Conversely, the translation 
and publication of Slovenian literature into French largely depends on the efforts of 
individual translators and other literary intermediaries, rather than a targeted translation 
policy (Lück Gaye, 2024). In addition, penetration of the French publishing market 
is hampered by the fact that some Slovenian literary agents do not speak French, and 
French publishers know little about Slovenia and show even less interest in its literature 
(Kac, 2024; Kavčič, 2024). Finally, the relatively low level of translation activity for 
languages of Nordic and Baltic states can be attributed to the lack of translators from 
Slovenian and the absence of a systematic translation support system (Petrič, 2024).
Translation projects under the Creative Europe programme provide important fi-
nancial support for the publishing industry, enhancing the publication of translated Slo-
venian literature and increasing the international visibility of lesser-known Slovenian 
authors (Copetti, 2024; Kac, 2024). Although translations of works by Slovenian EUPL 
authors account for only a small proportion of all translations into the 16 languages 
examined, the prize encouraged their first translations into various target languages. 
This shows that the EU mechanisms work and effectively promote the dissemination 
of books beyond their place and language of origin, thus contributing to cultural and 
literary diversity in Europe.
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TRENDI PREVAJANJA SLOVENSKE KNJIŽEVNOSTI V EVROPSKI UNIJI: 
PRIMERJALNA ANALIZA OBJAVLJENIH DEL V 16 JEZIKIH (1991–2024)
Adriana MEZEG
Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za prevajalstvo, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
e-mail: adriana.mezeg@ff.uni-lj.si
Julija ROZMAN
Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za prevajalstvo, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
e-mail: julija.rozman@ff.uni-lj.si
POVZETEK
Članek obravnava prevajanje slovenske književnosti v 16 jezikov EU od osamo-
svojitve Slovenije 1991 do junija 2024. Namen raziskave je ugotoviti, ali sta se z 
evropsko integracijo povečali količina in raznolikost prevedenih del ter ali je na 
prevode vplivala tudi nagrada EU za književnost (EUPL). Proučevali smo jezike iz 
različnih delov Evrope (sever, jug, vzhod, zahod). Bibliografske podatke smo pri-
dobili iz COBIB in podkrepili z intervjuji s strokovnjaki. Analiza kaže, da se je po 
2004 povečala količina prevodov v vse jezike, zlasti v nemščino (skoraj 13 knjig več 
na leto), italijanščino (skoraj 8 knjig več) in španščino (skoraj 7 knjig več). Zmerno 
povečanje (1–3 knjige na leto) smo zabeležili v romunščini, grščini, madžarščini, 
portugalščini, francoščini in bolgarščini, minimalno povečanje (manj kot 1 knjiga na 
leto) pa v švedščini, nizozemščini, litovščini, latvijščini, finščini, danščini in eston-
ščini – v teh jezikih je bilo sicer v 33,5 letih objavljenih manj kot 30 prevodov. Trendi 
zadnjih štirih let kažejo rast prevodov le v centralni nemščini in nekaterih perifernih 
jezikih. Rezultati delno potrjujejo vpliv geografske bližine na literarno izmenjavo in 
kažejo, da je bila približno tretjina prevodov ali manj objavljena v Sloveniji, z izjemo 
španščine (42,8 %), kar kaže na močne lokalne pobude za prevajanje slovenske 
književnosti. V devetdesetih so prevladovali klasični avtorji in poezija, po 2001 in 
zlasti 2011 pa proza sodobnih avtorjev in novi žanri (slikanice, pravljice, stripi). Med 
prevodi so tudi dela štirih slovenskih nagrajencev EUPL, ki sicer predstavljajo le 
1,5 % vseh objavljenih prevodov, vendar potrjujejo, da mehanizmi EU delujejo in 
torej prispevajo h kulturni in literarni raznolikosti v Evropi.
Ključne besede: slovenska književnost, prevajanje, prevodni tokovi, Evropska unija, 
nagrada Evropske unije za književnost, centralni jeziki, (pol-)periferni jeziki
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