The Winner Takes It All? The Impact of Awards on the Internationalization of the Portuguese Children's Publisher Planeta Tangerina

• Published in: Bookbird Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 55 - 66
• Main Author: Costa, Inês
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Johns Hopkins University Press 01.01.2021; Bookbird, Inc
• Subjects: Childrens literature; Christianity; Globalization; Literary prizes; Literary translation; Portuguese language
• DOI: 10.1353/bkb.2021.0017
• ISSN: 0006-7377; 1918-6983

Literary prizes are known to endow value to works and authors, conceding or increasing their symbolic capital, and granting them a wider visibility and, possibly, new audiences. It is also plausible, and often stated as true, that this kind of endorsement increases a work's chances of being translated and internationally disseminated. However, when it comes to children's literature, even though some authors have proven the positive effect of relevant prizes on domestic sales, research on the effects of prizes on internationalization—here intended as international dissemination and circulation—remains scarce. Drawing on an empirical analysis, using the Portuguese publishing house Planeta Tangerina as a case study, this article aims to ascertain whether there is evidence of a cause-effect relation between winning national and international artistic and literary prizes—or gathering praises of scholars and other renowned specialists—and the sales of the translation rights of the consecrated works to other countries.