If it's about the books translated into more languages of each country , after a moment I think of the figure of Victoria Ocampo, who with her magazine and publisher, Sur, shed a beacon of light on Latin American culture by bringing endless classics and avant-garde titles to the public for the first time in Spanish.
And although many decades may have elapsed between those historical events and the present, it is absolutely relevant to dissect what is the most translated book by a native author from each country.
So much so that the digital platform for language learning, preply , was commissioned to carry out and publish a report on the most translated books in the world.
These are the books translated into the most languages from each country.
For the study in question, 195 countries investigated , gathering information in each territory about their authors and most translated books ; and, in the cases in which it was not possible to establish a true source, they resorted, as Yolanda del Peso expresses, “to searching the inventory of the World Cat Library (the most complete database of information on library collections in the world) ".
It should be noted that those religious works where the authorship or the country of origin were not clear enough were omitted from the analysis, as well as the countries where a title that was available in more than 5 languages was not obtained.
BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO MORE LANGUAGES FROM EACH COUNTRY
The most translated books in North America.
In the case of North America, the self-help book, The road to happiness , from the founder of scientology, L. Ron Hubbard , was the great victor, having been translated into more than 112 languages.
Then, with 36 translations, the classic of Canadian literature is positioned, Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables), best known for becoming a hit Netflix series in 2017 with actresses Amybeth McNulty, Geraldine James, and Dalila Bela. Close behind, with 35 translations, is the novel by the Mexican writer, Juan Rulfo , titled Pedro Paramo.
The most translated books in Africa.
As far as the books with major translations of Africa , the focus falls on the story of the Kenyan author, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, entitled “The vertical revolution: or why humans walk upright” . So far it has 63 translations. And according to the list of the continent, the autobiographical genre is the one that seems to arouse the greatest attraction in the international arena.
The most translated books in South America.
South America , on the other hand, has The Alchemist of Paulo Coelho as the leading book in the region with 80 translations. While other famous works such as One hundred years of solitude of the Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez , has been translated into more than 49 languages, 2666 of the Chilean author, Robert Bolano , Y The Aleph of the Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges , have more than 28 and 25 translations respectively.
The most translated books in Asia.
autobiography of a yogi , by Paramahansa Yogananda, is the winning title in Asia with more than 50 languages, a level it shares with the book Norwegian Wood , by Haruki Murakami, who also stands out for having been translated into 50 languages.
The most translated books in Europe.
Children's literature dominates the top positions in the ranking, especially in Europe , with The little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry settled in the number one position on the continent and also globally with translations into more than 382 languages.
The work that has Spain as protagonist is Don Quijote of La Mancha , of Miguel de Cervantes , with 140 translations, and due to such success, it also manages to position itself globally at number 6.
The most translated books in Oceania.
In Oceania , the book the thorny bird by Colleen McCullough is the most translated, with a total of 20 countries, followed by whale rider with 15 translations and “Tales of the Tikongs” with 5 translations.
On the other hand, the world ranking of 10 most translated books mention the following titles:
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (382+ languages) - France
- The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (over 300 languages) - Italy
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (over 175 languages) - England
- Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (over 160 languages) - Denmark
- Will of Taras Shevchenko (over 150 languages) - Ukraine
- The ingenious knight Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes (140+ languages) - Spain
- The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard (over 112 languages) - USA
- The Adventures of Tintin by Georges Prosper Remi (93+ languages) - Belgium
- The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madách (over 90 languages) - Hungary
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (over 80 languages) - Brazil