Most translated authors - UNESCO statistics

[Bick]

I came across a UNESCO statistics page that reveals the number of authors' works translated into other languages. If ever there was a statistic that most clearly demonstrates worldwide popularity over time this must be it. There are a few recognised SFF authors on the list (which I have highlighted in a nice blue colour). Verne comes in second, which rather surprised me, though I had heard Christie was top so was not surprised by that. I was impressed to see that Asimov (24th) has had his work translated into more volumes than Dickens, Hemingway, Balzac (and Tolkien)! There's not an awful lot to say about the list perhaps, but i thought Chrons folk might be mildly interested.

1 Christie Agatha 7233
2 Verne Jules 4751
3 Shakespeare William 4281
4 Blyton Enid 3921
5 Cartland Barbara 3648
6 Steel Danielle 3628
7 Lenin Vladimir Il'ič 3592
8 Andersen Hans Christian 3520
9 King Stephen 3354
10 Grimm Jacob 2976
11 Grimm Wilhelm 2950
12 Roberts Nora 2597
13 Dumas Alexandre 2540
14 Doyle Arthur Conan 2495
15 Twain Mark 2428
16 Dostoevskij Fedor Mihajlovič 2340
17 Simenon Georges 2315
18 Lindgren Astrid 2270
19 Joannes Paulus II 2257
20 Goscinny René 2234
21 Stine Robert L. 2221
22 London Jack 2181
23 Tolstoj Lev Nikolaevič 2178
24 Asimov Isaac 2158
25 Dickens Charles 2107
26 Stevenson Robert Louis 2039
27 Steiner Rudolf 1868
28 Wilde Oscar 1787
29 Sheldon Sidney 1732
30 Holt Victoria 1660
31 Marx Karl 1643
32 Balzac Honoré de 1590
33 Hemingway Ernest 1569
34 Ludlum Robert 1530
35 Hesse Hermann 1521
36 Kafka Franz 1491
37 Koontz Dean R. 1491
38 Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm 1490
39 Rajanīśa 1488
40 Clark Mary Higgins 1485
41 Platon 1479
42 Čehov Anton Pavlovič 1473
43 Tolkien John Ronald Reuel 1458
44 Poe Edgar Allan 1435
45 Kipling Rudyard 1424
46 Perrault Charles 1401
47 Dahl Roald 1398
48 Goethe Johann Wolfgang von 1397
49 García Márquez Gabriel 1395

 

[Ray McCarthy]

1 Christie Agatha 7233
2 Verne Jules 4751
3 Shakespeare William 4281
4 Blyton Enid 3921
5 Cartland Barbara 3648
6 Steel Danielle 3628

The first four I'd have expected. Enid Blyton was amazing really, in entire 1950s #1 in UK
But Barbara Cartland and Danielle Steel?

 

[Bick]

I find the great Russian authors interesting: Dostoevsky, then Tolstoy, then Checkov. Fine, but Lenin beats them all!
And who is Robert Stine? (No. 21). How can I not have heard of the 21st most translated author in the history of the world?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

but Lenin beats them all!

I suspect State Sponsored translations?

 

[WaylanderToo]

I came across a UNESCO statistics page that reveals the number of authors' works translated into other languages. If ever there was a statistic that most clearly demonstrates worldwide popularity over time this must be it. There are a few recognised SFF authors on the list (which I have highlighted in a nice blue colour). Verne comes in second, which rather surprised me, though I had heard Christie was top so was not surprised by that. I was impressed to see that Asimov (24th) has had his work translated into more volumes than Dickens, Hemingway, Balzac (and Tolkien)! There's not an awful lot to say about the list perhaps, but i thought Chrons folk might be mildly interested.


2 Verne Jules 4751
3 Shakespeare William 4281
8 Andersen Hans Christian 3520
9 King Stephen 3354
10 Grimm Jacob 2976
11 Grimm Wilhelm 2950
14 Doyle Arthur Conan 2495
20 Goscinny René 2234

Honorable mention....
37 Koontz Dean R. 1491
43 Tolkien John Ronald Reuel 1458
44 Poe Edgar Allan 1435
45 Kipling Rudyard 1424
47 Dahl Roald 1398

can I disagree sightly with your assessments and argue that all of the above would fall under the purview of SFF?

 

[Randy M.]

I find the great Russian authors interesting: Dostoevsky, then Tolstoy, then Checkov. Fine, but Lenin beats them all!
And who is Robert Stine? (No. 21). How can I not have heard of the 21st most translated author in the history of the world?

R. L. Stine? Wikipedia at least notes his first name is Robert.

Or could there have been a misprint? Maybe, Robert Stone, a U.S. novelist. That would seem odd to me since none of his contemporaries show up on the list (like Thomas Pynchon) so I'm guessing, R. L. Stine.

1 Christie Agatha 7233
2 Verne Jules 4751
3 Shakespeare William 4281
4 Blyton Enid 3921
5 Cartland Barbara 3648
6 Steel Danielle 3628
7 Lenin Vladimir Il'ič 3592
8 Andersen Hans Christian 3520
9 King Stephen 3354
10 Grimm Jacob 2976
11 Grimm Wilhelm 2950
12 Roberts Nora 2597
13 Dumas Alexandre 2540
14 Doyle Arthur Conan 2495
15 Twain Mark 2428
16 Dostoevskij Fedor Mihajlovič 2340
17 Simenon Georges 2315
18 Lindgren Astrid 2270
19 Joannes Paulus II 2257
20 Goscinny René 2234
21 Stine Robert L. 2221
22 London Jack 2181
23 Tolstoj Lev Nikolaevič 2178
24 Asimov Isaac 2158
25 Dickens Charles 2107
26 Stevenson Robert Louis 2039
27 Steiner Rudolf 1868
28 Wilde Oscar 1787
29 Sheldon Sidney 1732
30 Holt Victoria 1660
31 Marx Karl 1643
32 Balzac Honoré de 1590
33 Hemingway Ernest 1569
34 Ludlum Robert 1530
35 Hesse Hermann 1521
36 Kafka Franz 1491
37 Koontz Dean R. 1491
38 Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm 1490
39 Rajanīśa 1488
40 Clark Mary Higgins 1485
41 Platon 1479
42 Čehov Anton Pavlovič 1473
43 Tolkien John Ronald Reuel 1458
44 Poe Edgar Allan 1435
45 Kipling Rudyard 1424
46 Perrault Charles 1401
47 Dahl Roald 1398
48 Goethe Johann Wolfgang von 1397
49 García Márquez Gabriel 1395

Just to note, all of the authors I underlined and italicized above have written sf/f/h, though those genres were not their main focus and the amount they wrote may be a subset of their complete works.

As for Cartland and Steele, not really surprising inclusions since they were major bestselling authors for decades, mainly in the romance publishing genre, and probably highly transportable to other languages/countries since their works really aren't politically charged. Victoria Holt surprises me more; I didn't realize she was that popular. And Simenon's a bit surprising, probably because he may be less popular here in the U.S. than he is in other parts of the world.


Randy M.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Simenon's a bit surprising

Not surprising to me.

 

[PipM]

Quite a weird list!

 

[Ursa major]

R. L. Stine? Wikipedia at least notes his first name is Robert.

And the second sentence of the Wiki article states:

Stine, who is called the "Stephen King of children's literature," is the author of hundreds of horror fiction novels, including the books in the Fear Street, Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, and The Nightmare Room series.

(My bolding and underlining.)

Looking at the huge number of his books, he's probably also similar to others on the UNESCO list, e.g. Christie and Blyton.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Ah ... Goosebumps is "big". Not read any yet.