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A one-day conference with invited speakers
About the Conference
Within Translation Studies as a discipline there is a growing awareness of differences in perspective stemming from the varying cultural backgrounds of both the scholars and the practitioners involved, some considering former approaches to translation as being (too) Euro-centric and as such failing to take other cultural sensitivities and views on language etc. into consideration. These differences have a considerable impact on how translation is perceived and what its role is considered to be in society and culture. Consequently, this has an impact on how scholars conceptualize and theorize translation both as an activity and as an area of study.
In his recent book, Translation and Identity in the Americas: New Directions in Translation Theory, Edwin Gentzler calls on scholars to “engage with how translation functions in other parts of the world” (Gentzler 2008: xiii).
In the context of translating in American cultures he also states that “translation is less something that happens between separate and distinct cultures and more something that is constitutive of those cultures” (2008:5).
Among other things, these statements imply an interaction between the function of translation in a given social context and the institutionalisation or realisation of the scholarly activity called Translation Studies. In this respect we are aware of a growing body of research into translation both as a set of practices and as a complex and layered field of activity. They also call into question the notion of translation as a bridging or filling in of linguistic and cultural gaps, and hence that of the translator as cultural mediator or go-between.
More importantly, this perspective draws our attention away from such monolithic notions that equate culture with one language and bind it to a single territory.
It draws our attention to ‘hybrid’ areas and persons who occupy borders within and across more dominant cultures, or to those who adopt ambivalent stances with respect to facile dichotomies such as “source and target language/ culture”.
It also draws or attention to what is included in translation or excluded from translation altogether.
In this one-day conference we would attempt to respond to Gentzler’s call (be it only in part) and try to
- engage with how translation functions in other parts of the world
- explore the interaction between the social context of translation and the institutionalization of Translation Studies
- examine to which extent (former) translation theories are Eurocentric
- consider how the various continental perspectives can help us broaden and deepen our understanding of the field
Because his recent book serves as a starting point, Edwin Gentzler will be a central guest at the conference. Several invited speakers will respond to his views and contrast them with their own scholarly experiences.
Conference Programme
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Conference Abstracts
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Abstracts in Chronological Order
Luc van Doorslaer (Lessius Antwerp, CETRA Univ. of Leuven)
What the Americas Can or Cannot Learn from Belgium
Edwin Gentzler (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst)
On Translation Studies in the United States
Dirk Delabastita (Univ. of Namur)
Edwin Gentzler’s Translation and Identity in the Americas:
The Invention of Tradition?
Peter Flynn (Lessius Antwerp)
Examining Translators’ Contributions to Translation Studies –
an Ethnographic Perspective
Frank Albers (Artesis Antwerp)
Culture and Translation
Michael Boyden (University College Ghent)
Heading South, Looking North: How much Translation Studies is there in the New American Studies?
Edwin Gentzler (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst)
The International Turn in Translation Studies
Kobus Marais (Univ. of the Free State, Bloemfontein)
Prof. Gentzler, Please Meet Madonela from Umzimkulu -
The Reception of Gentzler's Views on Translation in 'Africa'
Roberto Valdeón (Univ. of Oviedo)
On Translation and Inventing America/Inventing Europe
Cecilia Alvstad (Univ. of Oslo)
Gentzler’s Geography
About the speakers
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About the chairs
Erik Hertog
José Lambert
Reine Meylaerts
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