Conference: Multiculturalism and Multilingualism in Canada

Self-translation will be a topic at the symposium Multiculturalism and Multilingualism in Canada taking place 21-22 February 2015 at the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Two panels on Sunday 22 February are dedicated to self-translation with the following contributions:

11:15 – 12:45 Panel 5 Self-translation and the Canadian mosaic/L’autotraduction et la mosaïque canadienne I

• Rainier Grutman (University of Ottawa), Self-translation in Canada: a Multilingual Affair 
• Patricia Godbout (Université de Sherbrooke), Une autotraduction cleptomane? Le cas du Rêve de Kamalmouk de Marius Barbeau 
• Tiziana Nannavecchia (University of Ottawa), Searching for a place to call home: self-translation and the literary experience of Italian migrants in multilingual Canada

13:45 – 15:15 Panel 6 Self-translation and the Canadian mosaic/L’autotraduction et la mosaïque canadienne II 

• Cecilia Foglia (Université de Montréal), Autotraduire la « culture immigrée » : Marco Micone, une étude de cas 
• Hugh Hazelton (Concordia University), Reclaiming the Text: Self-Translation Among Spanish and Portuguese-Speaking Writers of Canada 
• Trish van Bolderen (University of Ottawa), Huston, we have a problem… (or What on earth is “Canadian self-translation” supposed to mean?)

To see the full programme please click here.

Call for posters. 5/27/2015. The Fictions of Translation. Canada.

Self-translation is one of the possible topics for a poster presentation at the international conference to be held May 27-29, 2015, at Concordia University, in Montreal, Canada.

Deadline for submission: January 30, 2015

Poster Presentations
The organizing committee of Transfiction 3 is seeking undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students as well as postdocs for poster presentations during the conference. A poster presentation involves producing an academic poster that translates your research into an engaging visual format, and presenting that information informally to conference attendees during specific periods such as lunchtime and coffee breaks. Posters give you an opportunity to interact one on one with conference attendees by giving a short talk on your topic and answering any questions. Your poster should contain the title of your presentation, a summary of your topic, relevant quotes, images, examples or illustrations of your key points, and any other information that helps you communicate your ideas clearly and fully.

Interested participants are invited to submit 300-word proposals for poster presentations by January 30, 2015, to transfiction@concordia.ca. The proposals should be attached in Word, with the file name in the following format: authorname.doc, and “poster presentation” indicated in the subject line of the e-mail. (Please include your contact information in the body of your e-mail, not in the file.)

Date of notification regarding acceptance of poster presentations: February 15, 2015.

Conference Theme
This conference is a follow-up to the first Transfiction conference on “Fictional Translators” (Vienna 2011) and its sequel, Beyond Transfiction, on “Translators and (Their) Authors” (Tel Aviv 2013). Transfiction 3 will continue to explore the complex relationship and shifting borders between writing and translation, in the past and at present. Using historical perspectives and current theoretical frameworks, participants will reflect on the continuing presence of the theme of translation and translators in fiction, drama, and other art forms such as cinema, on the often problematic interface between writers and translators, and the evolving status of translation in relation to so-called original work.

Suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:

· The figure of the translator and the theme of translation: is this primarily a (post)modern phenomenon or one that can be traced back to earlier times?

· Historical perspectives: shifting attitudes to the status of translation and the role of the translator; evolving perceptions of the authorial voice and the translator’s visibility.

· Fictionalized practices of translation such as pseudotranslation.

· Self-translation: can it really be called “translation” or is it a form of (re)writing?

· Translation and hybridity: dialects/diglossia/polyglossia across expatriate and diasporic communities, and their implications for writing and translation.

· Translation in/and/of modernism: Joyce, Pound, Beckett, etc.

· Intra-cultural or inter-semiotic forms of translation: for example, novels adapted for the cinema or stage, and graphic novels.

· New developments in a globalized, technological world: what are the implications for translations, translators, and relations between authors and translators of such phenomena as crowdsourcing, collaborative translation, and open translation?

· The “translation turn” in the social sciences and humanities: is the use of “translation” a metaphor, a fiction, or a legitimate epistemological practice?

Conference Languages
The languages of the conference will be English and French.

Note: The conference is being planned in cooperation with the Canadian Association for Translation Studies, whose annual conference will be held in Ottawa the following week, from June 1 to 3, 2015, on the theme “Literary Translation and Canada.” Scholars may wish to participate in both conferences.

Fee
Early registration fee for students (before March 31, 2015): CAN$75
Fee after March 31, 2015: CAN$100

Local Organizing Committee
Judith Woodsworth, Chair / Patricia Godbout, Co-chair / Gillian Lane-Mercier, Co-chair
Danièle Marcoux / Carmen Ruschiensky / Christine York

Scientific Committee
Véronique Béghain (Université Bordeaux Montaigne) / Nitsa Ben-Ari (Tel Aviv University)
Patricia Godbout (Université de Sherbrooke) / Gillian Lane-Mercier (McGill University)
Xuanmen Luo (Tsinghua University) / Judith Woodsworth (Concordia University)

Information and further details:
For all correspondence about the conference please use the e-mail address: transfiction@concordia.ca .

Sébastien Doubinsky on self-translating

Sébastien Doubinsky, born in France but living in Denmark, speaks about his experience of self-translating his novels in an interview with the arts and literary journal The Missing Slate:

I have translated myself—and others—many times and know well that perfect translation doesn’t exist. It can be seen as a tragedy, a communication failure, but actually I consider this a chance—a chance of freedom, of the irreconcilable space between cultures—and the mutual respect it implies. So if you read closely and compare the two versions of the same novel I’ve written, I think you might be shocked by the liberties I am taking with the original text! But that is because the second one becomes a new original, if you want, another text altogether. (The Missing Slate 2015)

To read the complete interview please click here.

Conference "Lyrik transkulturell"

Self-translation will be a topic at the international conference Lyrik transkulturell taking place 21.-24th January at the University Innsbruck in Austria.

• Samstag, 24.01.2015 (Un)Übersetzbarkeit
  09:00–09:45 Barbara Siller: Lyrik in zwei Sprachen – monolinguale Rezeption? Selbstübersetzung als literarische Handlungsform am Beispiel Gerhard Kofler

To see the complete program of the conference please click here.

UPDATE Bibliography on self-translation

The bibliography on self-translation has been updated. To access the pdf-file, please click here. The next update is scheduled for April 1, 2015.

Happy New Year, everyone!