ALT A description of conference panel number 42, which will take place at the EST Congress in Leeds in 2025, and which is entitled 'The Changing Landscape of Literary Translation and/as Soft Power'. A full description is available via the EST website, linked in the tweet, but to summarise, the key questions that this panel seeks to explore are: 1. What do recent trends in transnational flows of literary translation reveal about cultural goals and strategies across a spectrum of linguistic contexts? 2. To what extent do institutional initiatives aimed at supporting literary translation align with the needs and demands of publishing industries, and are there implications for our understanding of the role and reach of soft power? 3. Is the ability to exert soft power a privilege of organisations and publishers working in so-called ‘major’ language contexts, or are there limits to the potential reach of soft power in specific situations?

ALT Professor Sabine Braun