Fiction as a cultural bridge : on foreign fiction’s availability in Swedish

This study is an attempt to shed light on the importance of fiction as a bridge between different cultures and traditions. The objective of this essay is threefold. First it explores the potentiality of fiction as a communication channel between different cultures, societies and social groups. Secondly, it studies the availability of foreign fiction in Swedish language. And thirdly it tries to approach and analyze the structures and mechanisms behind that availability. In order to achieve the goals of the study the author uses a critical realist theoretical framework and combines quantitative and qualitative techniques. Some of the main findings of the study are the domination of Anglo-American fiction and the marginalization of small languages when translating foreign fiction to Swedish