Bridge building or armchair traveling? The reception of the English translations of Manuel Rivas and Domingo Villar

EnglishThe reader of translations has gained increasing attention in Translation Studies in recent years, with more focused studies looking into the reception of translated works either through textual analysis of reviews (Zhao 2009, Bielsa 2013, D’Egidio 2015, Saldanha 2018) or the analysis of interviews and focus groups with real readers (Arnold 2016). The reception of works by anglophone readers, in particular, has raised interest among scholars who wish to understand the expectations and patterns of literary consumption by a hegemonic, central culture. This article explores how Galician writers Manuel Rivas and Domingo Villar’s work is perceived and re-constructed by an anglophone readership through an analysis of professional (press) reviews and semiprofessional (blog) reviews based on the homogenization- eterogenizationexoticismcontinuum posited by Saldanha (2018). galegoNos ultimos anos, os estudos de Traducion venen vendo un aumento no interese sobre o lectorado de traducions, presente en estudos centrados na recepcion de obras traducidas ben sexa a traves dunha analise textual de recensions (Zhao 2009, Bielsa 2013, D’Egidio 2015, Saldanha 2018) ou de estudos realizados a traves de entrevistas e grupos de lectura con lectores reais (Arnold 2016). En concreto, a recepcion de obra traducida no mundo anglofono ven xerando un interese particular entre academicos que buscan comprender as expectativas e os patrons de consumo literario no contexto dunha culturacentral e hexemonica. Este artigo explora a recepcion das obras de Manuel Rivas e Domingo Villar no mundo anglofono e estuda como as recensions tanto profesionais (en prensa) como semiprofesionais (blogs) re-construen a cultura galega segundo a nocion de continuo homoxenizacion-heteroxenizacion-exotismo formulada por Saldanha (2018).