translation of feminist non-fiction during the fourth wave of feminism: a study of patronage in iran

Since around 2008, the fourth wave of feminism has risen with the advent oftechnology and the widespread usage of the internet. although the onlineplatform offers opportunities for ideas to go viral in a matter of days, thecomplexity of concepts cannot be conveyed in posts with 280-character limits,which make all feminism seem simplified and universal. much like anywhere elsein the world, this has been the case for online feminism in iran as well, and thereseems to be a need for books on feminism in iran, as a medium through whicheducated, comprehensive ideas can be presented in volumes, offering depth ofcomplexity and diversity. the aim of the present study is to investigate whethertranslations of non-fiction feminist books have been undertaken by publishers,and to see whether such translations have received permission to be published.the study is product-oriented and data-driven, and lefevere’s theories ofpatronage (1992) and margin (1984) have been employed to explain and analyzethe findings. results show that the patronage of the ministry of culture andislamic guidance of iran has indirectly influenced the non-selection of 88.73%of the books, causing self-censorship. this means that the publishers haveremained within the margin by not undertaking translations which are not in linewith the ideologies of the state. only 6 books were banned from publishing,meaning self-censorship plays a more important role than cultural blockage