This tells you the limits of informal, extra-institutional translation possibilities. Traditionally published books that are reasonably successful will easily appear in 6-7 languages. Self-published ones like my book Tempo (~5k copies, so low end of “successful”) are unlikely to.
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A lot of the value of existence of institutionalized high culture layers in languages is: cultural globalization. When high culture dies, books stop being translated into other languages as the translation gap between self-published and traditionally published demonstrates.
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Can easily happen the other way round. 2nd or 3rd tier languages can survive and thrive because of cultural regionalization. When region becomes more important, there will be a growing demand for something that can positively define identity.
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Take the example of Catalan. A language as definition what's special about a region. Highly subsidized by regional government, yes, but that's what governments do to demonstrate uniqueness.
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If national institutions and narratives continue to be the main source of identity, there is little need for investment in language culture. But I wouldn't bet on that outcome.
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I’d say for a language to thrive the effort pie chart is:
60% street use and texting/signage/ads
20% free market mass oral media (video/audio/music)
10% free market textual long form
9.9% scholarly work in universities free of state interference
0.1% direct state effort
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Main effort is to reduce or eliminate use of Spanish in school, at work, in public. Rather successful.
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Yes, that's what most experts predict, too. But the Catalans simply don't care.
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