CfP: International conference "The Author and “his” Translator: the Genealogy of an Asymmetric Relationship" (2023, Tours, France)

 The Author and “his” Translator: the Genealogy of an Asymmetric Relationship 
 International conference: call for papers
 University of Tours (France), June 12th -13th 2023

To read the full CfP in French and English please visit: https://www.fabula.org/actualites/lauteur-face-a-son-traducteur--la-genealogie-dune-relation_109217.php

Shortened version:
The international conference The Author and “his” Translator calls on researchers from a wide range of disciplines (literary and cultural studies, history, sociology, law, economics, linguistics, etc.) who would like to contribute to investigating this evolution by reconstructing the emergence of this publishing field structure in order to reach a better understanding of the processes of harmonisation of national book markets, which determine contemporary literary translation practices and international distribution of literary texts. Four aspects of this subject seem to deserve our special attention:

— analogies between the process of codification of the translation profession (diplomas and certifications in translation studies, formalisation of translators’ contracts, emergence of professional networks, prizes and awards for the best translators, etc.) and the one of consolidation of the body of laws on copyright and intellectual property [...]

— relationship between the history of translation and literary/cultural history [...]

— typology of collaborations between the writer and the literary translator throughout history. Looking into the diversity of forms of interaction between writer and translator reveals an impressive diversity of practices: benevolent laissez-faire of the author, long and detailed epistolary discussions about the dilemmas of translation, reciprocal translation by the two peers, collaborative translation, choice of self-translation and refusal to cede copyright for non-authorial translations or even legal proceedings against the authors of translations judged to be unfaithful. [...]

— translation and book market [...]

The international conference The Author and “his” Translator intends to offer researchers from all fields of humanities and social sciences an opportunity to question the functioning of contemporary cultural field from the point of view of the place that translators are bound to occupy within it. In order to allow for an in-depth examination of this subject, the programme of this scientific event will include various forms of work: in addition to individual papers and thematic panels proposed by several researchers, the conference will comprise a series of talks with a writer and his/her translator, round tables with publishers and directors of foreign literature collections, workshops devoted to the key points of the conference.

Proposals containing a title, a paper summary of 300 words and a short biographical statement must be sent to anna.krykun@univ-tours.fr  before September 7th 2022. Notification of admission will be sent at the beginning of November after evaluation of all proposals by the members of the scientific committee.

 

New Voices in Self-Translation: Lana Bastašić (Serbo-Croatian->English)

The first author featured in the new series "New Voices in Self-Translation" is Serbian writer Lana Bastašić (see blog entry on October 23, 2021). The English self-translation of her debut novel Catch the Rabbit was published in 2021 with Picador (UK) and Restless Books (US). The self-translation is visible to the reader as the title page of the Picador version states "Translated by the author". We are thus dealing with a case of a transparent self-translation (for the distinction between opac and transparent self-translation see Dasilva 2011).
Lana Bastašić  wrote Uhvati zeca (Kontrast 2018) while living in Barcelona, Spain. She can thus be considered a migrant self-translator, but unlike most migrant self-translators she does not use Catalan or Spanish, the language of her current residence, for self-translation. Bastašić explains, that she had to translate the manuscript into English in order order to approach agents and publishers, "I was a Bosnian living in Barcelona. No one spoke my language." (Behnke 2021). She thus translated the manuscript for mere practical reasons - not thinking about a possible publication of the English version: 

"When I set out to translate the novel, I never thought my translation would be published. I simply needed a readable draft to show to an agent, so that he or she would know what the book was about. Later, I had to rework the text and improve it because the UK publisher wanted my original translation." (Kalaba 2021)

The self-translation process proved to be complex. While translating, Bastašić identified weaknesses in the original and thus began to edit the new edition of the original version as well: “If I don’t want to bother translating this sentence, then it shouldn’t be in the book." (Behnke 2021). The English self-translation  helped her improve the text, find an agent and get translated into several languages: "That’s how in the end I got an agent, and that’s how I got all these translation deals. Otherwise, I think maybe it wouldn’t have happened." (Listi 2021)  However, she would still prefer to be translated by a professional translator: "Of course, I still believe it is better to have someone else translate your work. There is a distance and you feel more responsible. But unfortunately, if your language is considered “small,” that is highly unlikely to happen". (Behnke 2021)

Thanks to her initial self-translation into English, the novel gained visibility on the international market and attracted the interest of publishers around the globe. The novel Uhvati zeca (Buybook 2018) was awarded the 2020 European Union Prize for Literature and is now available in many languages:

• Catalan: Atrapa la llebre (Edicions del Periscopi / Navona) Translator: Pau Sanchis Ferrer, 2018.
• Dutch: Vang de Haas (Meulenhof). Translator: Pavle Trkulja, 2021. Translated from the Serbo-Croatian.
  
• French: Attrapez le lapin (Actes Sud, Éditions Gaïa). Translator: Aleksandar Grujičić in collaboration with Isabelle Liber, 2022. Translated from the Serbo-Croatian.
• German: Fang den Hasen (Fischer Verlag). Translator: Rebekka Zeinzinger, March 2021. Translated from the Bosnian.
• Hungarian: Kapd el a nyulat! (Metropolis). Translator: Emese Rajsli, 2020
• Italian: Afferra il coniglio (Nutrimenti edizioni). Translator: Elisa Copetti. Translated from the Serbo-Croatian. 2020
  
• Russian: Поймать зайца (Eksmo). Translator: Larisa Savelieva, 2021
• Slovenian: Ujemi zajca (Sanje). Translator: Dijana Matkovič, 2021
• Spanish: Atrapa a la liebre (Navona). Translator: Pau Sanchis Ferrer, 2020
• Turkish: Tavşanı Yakala (Ilksatir). Translator: Gökce Cicek, 2020

Translation rights have also been sold to  Perseus (Bulgaria), Artconnect (Macedonia), Dituria (Albania). Bastašić, who was born in Croatia and grew up in Bosnia, lives today in Serbia after spending several years in Barcelona. She explains that publishers have difficulties locating her: 

“Now some translations have come out, some say ‘translated from the Serbo-Croatian,’ some say ‘translated from Bosnian,’ some say ‘from Serbian.’ Then this article came out in Switzerland, where I was a Croatian writer,” she laughs, “I love it." (Petrick 2021)

Translation rights are handled by Salmaia Literary Agency on behalf of Edicions del Periscopi.

Sources:
Behnke. Emily. 2021. "An Indies Introduce Q&A With Lana Bastašić".  Published on May 20, 2021 on: https://www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-qa-lana-bastašić-1625833 

Kalaba, Jovanka. 2021. "Lana Bastašić Still Believes in Beauty". Published on August 19, 2021 https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2021/08/19/lana-bastasic-still-believes-in-beauty/

Listi, Bradi. 2021. "“It’s Not Something I Would Recommend.” Lana Bastašić on Translating Her Own Book In Conversation with Brad Listi on Otherppl". Podcast "Otherppl", June 16, 2021, published on: https://lithub.com/its-not-something-i-would-recommend-lana-bastasic-on-translating-her-own-book/

Petrick Daniel. 2021. "In her novel Catch the Rabbit, Lana Bastašić explores who tells the story of Yugoslavia’s ethnic conflict". Calvit Journal. Published on June 17, 2021 on: https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/12868/novel-catch-the-rabbit-lana-bastashi-90s-yugoslav-war 

Cited research literature:
Dasilva, Xosé Manuel (2011): "La autotraducción transparente y la autotraducción opaca". In: Xosé Manuel Dasilva & HelenaTanqueiro (eds.), Aproximaciones a la autotraducción. Vigo: Editorial Academia del Hispanismo, 45–68. 

UJ Literary Translation Prize 2022

SJ Naudé won the R50 000.00 UJ Literary Translation Prize 2022 for his self-translation of Dol heuning (2021) / Mad Honey (2021) from Afrikaans into English. Both versions of SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories were published simultaneously with Penguin Random House. The jury praised the self-translator for his

"total command of the source text and the freedom to adjust that text to the demands and resources of the target language. Thus, in this case, we have at times a meticulously faithful translation, and at times a slightly more adventurous translation.”

The prize is awarded by the University of Johannesburg.

Source: https://www.uj.ac.za/winners-announced-for-the-2022-uj-prize-for-creative-writing-and-literary-translation/

Two self-translations make it to Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2022 shortlist

Among the 26 short stories who made it to the shortlist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2022, are two self-translated stories:

• ‘What Men Live By’ by Shagufta Sharmeen Tania, translated from Bangla by the author (United Kingdom/Bangladesh)
• ‘Wonem Samting Kamap Long Mama?’ (‘What Happened to Ma?’) by Baka Bina, translated from Tok Pisin to English by the author (Papua New Guinea)

Source: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2204/S00179/2022-commonwealth-short-story-prize-shortlist-announced.htm

Talk: Emotional Response to Self-Translation. The Case of Jhumpa Lahiri

 The talk "Emotional Response to Self-Translation. The Case of Jhumpa Lahiri" by Andrea Bergantino (Trinity College Dublin) is available on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJf45YilDnM&ab_channel=TrinityCentreforLiterary%26CulturalTranslation