PRESENTATION

Presentation Description:

You might (or might not) have heard about the Australian Literature translated into the other languages Trove Lists project in the last 2 years. What is it actually? It is a project run by ALIA Multicultural, led by Joey Chung (Holmesglen) and Alice Chik (Macquire University) to curate lists of Australian literature translated into other languages on Trove, for ease of access and to promote Australian literature to the wider community.

You can find the full list in the ALIA Multicultural website: https://multicultural.alia.org.au/resources/translated-australian-literature/

You might wonder, public libraries have multicultural collection already why should we create the Trove lists project?

Australian public libraries have always stocked collections in languages other than English (LOTE). A LOTE collection serves at least two functions, borrowing Bishop’s metaphor of ‘mirrors and windows’.

First, a LOTE/multicultural collection can be mirrors to reflect the demographic diversities in Australia. A public library usually decides to start a LOTE collection with guidance from the census data on local cultural and linguistic diversities. In this sense, then, a multicultural collection is a mirror because the collection enables migrants to see their cultures and languages in public spaces. A multicultural collection is often a collection of LOTE books and media materials that are published overseas by non-Australian authors. For instance, books written by Annie Ernaux in French or by Han Kang (한강) in Korean. Then a French- or Korean-speaking reader will find an author and their work in a language they prefer.

Second, a LOTE/multicultural collection is a window for the communities to understand the diversity of our own local communities. Through the collection, the public learns about the French- and Korean-reading/speaking communities locally.

And then, there are the rare sliding glass door moments in which the LOTE collections could become bridges. While Annie Ernaux and Han Kang are Nobel Prize laureates in Literature, their works may not reflect or speak to/of Australian society (past or contemporary). André Dao and Liane Moriarty may not be Nobel Prize laureates (yet), but reading their work provides insight into the Australian psyches and socio-cultural-historical worlds. And many more Australian fiction and non-fiction are translated into many languages and sold all over the world. Translated Australian works can be the sliding glass door for all Australian to come together to read works that reflect Australian culture and society in English and in one’s preferred language(s).

This is the aim of our Trove Lists project.

In this session, Joey and Alice will show you the behind the scenes of this project. How two people, in two different worlds, met in ALIA Multicultural, turn one “crazy” idea into a real-life research project. What have we done in the back end, some interesting encounters we had during the journey, what we are going to do next, and why this project is important to Library Industry, education sector, literacy teachers, teacher educators, and also the wider multicultural community.

References
https://issuu.com/incite_magazine/docs/incite_june_2023/s/26020947