Mission (im)possible? Translating Finnish literature into Danish

The paper presents the results of a survey conducted among a group of Danish translators of Finnish literature. The authors provide an outline of the translators in terms of gender, age and education, emphasizing that all but one have a background in Finnish studies at the University of Copenhagen. The authors also identify what the translators view as the challenges in translating Finnish literature into Danish. Since 2016, it has been impossible to study Finnish at an academic level in Denmark. Although Denmark is one of the countries that translates the largest amount of Finnish literature, the study reveals concerns among translators that the lack of higher education opportunities will negatively affect the transmission of Finnish literature to Denmark. While current translators typically hold a degree in Finnish, the paper suggests that future translators will likely come from different backgrounds, i.e., bilingual individuals or editors working with AI-generated translations.