Research project Marie Franzos (1870–1941)

The focus of my research is the Viennese translator Marie Franzos (1870-1941). She had a fundamental role in spreading Swedish literature in German. My goal is to explain why she gained a prominent position and why her translations were so popular and appreciated by publishers and authors.

Literary studies and sociology of literature have focused on writers and publishers. Only recently have translation studies started to stress the importance of translators with only a few precedents focusing on translators as key figures.

My hypothesis is that Franzos’s success was due to her talent for languages but also for business. She aimed at financial success. Therefore, she took advantage of the idealised image of the North widely spread within the German Empire.

To depict an exhaustive portrait, I will analyse the cultural, cognitive and sociological aspect of her life and work, using a genetic dossier and a micro historical approach.