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Article published In: Translation in Society
Vol. 4:2 (2025) ► pp.174–195

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‘Only’ a translator?

A microhistorical account of the working life of Lily Vallquist and the emerging professionalization of literary translators in 1950s Sweden

ORCiD logo with link | Stockholm University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Stockholm University.

Published online: 23 January 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.24004.sva
Abstract
This article adopts a microhistorical approach, zooming in on the Swedish literary translator Lily Vallquist’s (1897–1986) working life in the 1950s in relation to the professionalization of literary translators in Sweden during the same period. Combining a microhistorical and translation sociological perspective, the article showcases how literary translators in 1950s Sweden engaged with different forms of boundary work to establish the literary profession as a profession in its own right and how this is reflected in the everyday work by an individual translator. The correspondence with publishing house representatives reveals that Lily Vallquist assumed a high degree of responsibility for different aspects of the translation event; although she was “only” a translator, she was not “only translating”. In sum, the article challenges assumptions regarding the multi-professionality of (literary) translators that are often presented as a universal truth and presents a case where the translators rather strived for mono-professionalism.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Zooming in and looking back
  • 2.Biographical sketch: Lily Vallquist’s life and work
  • 3.Approach and material: Microhistorical takes on an ‘ordinary’ translator
  • 4.Setting the scene: Literary translation in 1950s Sweden
  • 5.“Vallquist-Edéus corporation”: Professional network and family
  • 6.Lily Vallquist’s translatorial agency: “Only” a translator, but not “only translating”
  • 7.Summing up: Zooming out and looking forward
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
References (50)
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