The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is regarded as one of the best fantasy novels of the twentieth century. It is a very popular book in the United States and it has been adapted into three movies. The Hobbit is set in an alternate world with a wild adventure where the main character, the Hobbit, goes on a quest with many dwarfs and a wizard. I read The Hobbit recently and to my surprise, it is actually a translated novel; it has been translated into over thirty languages! It surprised me to learn that it was translated because very few popular books in the United States are. After reading The Hobbit, along with other translated literature, it has made me see the importance of this type of literature. Translated literature makes information and ideas more accessible to new audiences around the world, which makes this type of literature very important. Translated literature is very underrated in the U.S., but it provides general knowledge for various topics. There are many genres under the translated literature umbrella category, but there are many benefits to reading translated literature of any genre.  

About three percent of the total amount of books published in the U.S. are translated, which is stated by the article that was written by Maria Diment, an author for ALTA Languages Services, that was published on June 30, 2019, called “Why Are So Few Translated Books Published In America?” This is a surprisingly low number because reading translated literature has many benefits. One of the many benefits of translated literature is it can inform readers about different cultures and communities that they might not have known much about before. Without the translation of literature, ideas from different cultures would not be known to the rest of the world, this is also true for ancient texts as well, including the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is a very important Ancient Egyptian artifact, which is currently located in the British Museum. In the article “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone,” from the British Museum, published on July 14, 2017, the British Museum announces that the Rosetta Stone consists of three different scripts, one of them being Greek, which all say the same thing. From the Rosetta Stone scholars were then able to translate it because they understood Ancient Greek. This translation of the stone was the “key” to understanding and learning more about Ancient Egyptian culture. This shows how translation of literature can open up a whole new world of understanding of different cultures and ideas. Translated literature can, along with sharing new ideas and cultures, make smaller authors and books more accessible. 

 One of the most translated types of literature is religious texts, which makes sense because it spreads the text to a wider audience around the globe. The translation of those religious texts makes the information more accessible to many people who would have otherwise not been able to read it without a translation. This is also true for other genres of literature as well, but religious texts are one of the most common. This shows that translating literature is very important to spread concepts and make ideas accessible around the world. Another way literature has become more accessible is through audio books. The first audio book was invented in 1932, which is stated by the article “A short history of the audio book, 20 years after the first portable digital audio device,” written by Alison Thoet, from PBS, published on  Nov 22, 2017. Audio books make books more accessible for a multitude of people for reasons like, it is more convenient or they just don’t have enough time to read a physical book. From listening to audio books some readers can more easily comprehend what the book is saying. In a way audio books are a form of translation, from physical to audio. Translated literature in a form of language is very important for accessibility of literature around the world. Even though the translation of literature can bring literature to new audiences it still is a very underrated form of literature. 

One of the most important things that translators need to think about while translating a book is staying true to the original, which can be difficult because language is very complicated and sometimes there isn’t an equivalent to a certain word. Although translators do an excellent job in most cases with translating literature, it is still very underrated. The amount of fiction and poetry books that were translated in 2018(in the U.S.) was only fifty-five books, which the 2018 database called “Three Percent,” from the University of Rochester, most recently updated in 2018, informs. Fifty-five books is a surprisingly low number, but when compared to the average amount of books someone reads in a year the number doesn't seem that low, however, it does give people less options. The average reader in America reads about fourteen books per year(in 2022), according to the article “Three-in-ten Americans now read e-books,” from the Pew Research Center, which provides social science research, published on January 6, 2022. Most people in the U.S. don’t have enough time to read and they certainly won’t all be translated literature, if any. Translated literature as a whole is very underrated, but reading this type of literature can grant many new fields of knowledge.  

Recently I have read a translated book about architecture called The Four Books of Architecture by Andrea Palladio, an Italian Renaissance architect, and I learned a lot about architecture from this translation. There are many other examples of translated non-fiction literature that are very helpful with learning a certain topic. In 2022, about forty-five and a half percent of books printed in the U.S were non-fiction, this statistic is presented by the article called “Nonfiction Book Sales Statistics,” from Wordsrated, a data-based book research organization, published on Jan 16, 2023. And as I stated earlier, only about three percent of all books are translated, so the amount of books that are translated non-fiction make up a very small amount of all books printed in the U.S. These statistics are very important because it shows how few translated books that are available in the U.S. for people to read, if they choose to at all. People don’t just learn things from just non-fiction, but the majority of information about a certain topic does come from them. As a whole translated literature is very underappreciated, especially since it can be a very helpful source of knowledge.

Overall , translated literature is a very important type of literature and should be more widespread and recognized in the United States. Recently I have read many different pieces of translated literature from many languages around the world. From reading those translated books, they have shown me the importance of the type of literature and that people should be reading them more. Translated literature has many benefits, one of them being it can make literature from around the world more accessible to other countries. It can also spread ideas around the world. Translated literature is very underrated with very few people in the U.S. that read it, but it can be very helpful in learning about many different topics. As a type of literature, translated books are very important for readers around the world and more people should read them. Translators are excellent at their job and should also be more recognized along with the exceptional translated novels that they write. One of the most sought-after fantasy books of the twentieth century is The Hobbit, which is an excellent example of an amazing book with many translations. The Hobbit also shows that translating any genre of book is important. If not for the translation of The Hobbit many people around the world wouldn’t ever have the chance to watch the many movies about the book or read work from the remarkable J.R.R Tolkien.