Les traduccions alemanyes de literatura catalana [German translations of Catalan literature]

The last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of German translations of Catalan literature. The recent publication of F. Robles’s Bibliografia de la literatura catalana en versió alemanya – narrativa, poesia, teatre (2005), which revises and updates all previous bibliographic collections, reopens the debate about the actual importance of the Catalan culture in Europe and aims at a commonly forgotten issue such as the literary relations between Catalonia and the surrounding countries. A brief historical description of Catalan literature translations into German will help determine the facts which have delayed, prevented or facilitated a fluent intercourse between both cultures and answer basic questions such as: When did the first German version of a Catalan text appear? Which authors, works or genres are the most appreciated by German readers? And, in particular, how have the political and social changes of the last decades influenced the relations between the Hispanic and German speaking territories?