果冻影院

XClose

果冻影院 School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

Home
Menu

Nothing Happened: Translation Studies before James Holmes

09 November 2023鈥10 November 2023, 9:00 am鈥4:00 pm

Nothing Happened conference poster

A conference co-organised by the Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) and 果冻影院 School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

SSEES

Frequently rehearsed narratives of Translation Studies typically trace the origins of the discipline to James Holmes鈥檚 1972 paper, 鈥楾he Name and Nature of Translation Studies鈥, and suggest that little of interest happened prior to that date, or at least prior to the 1950s. Reflections on translation from earlier periods have been characterised as sterile, imprecise, or circular, or as taking place outside the bounds of academic or scientific endeavour. Teleological narratives of disciplinary progress and development have been widely reproduced and are rarely contested.聽

Several attempts have been made to foreground the fact that Translation Studies is far more diverse than its established representation as a Western scholarly tradition that began in the 1970s (e.g. van Doorslaer and Naajkens 2021; Hang and Wakabayashi 2016; Schippel and Zwischenberger 2016; Ceccherelli, Costantino and Diddi 2015), but 鈥 as Yves Gambier (2021) has rightly concluded 鈥 the field has yet to 鈥榓cknowledge the fragmented nature of its origins, traditions and filiations.鈥櫬

As Brian Baer (2020) observes, the standard account of the discipline鈥檚 history constitutes a 鈥榤ythhistory鈥, functioning to 鈥榮upply a foundational narrative that helps a group of people to form a collective identity鈥, rather than to reflect the details of historical records more closely. Baer bases his own contestation of the dominant account on its geographical, even neo-imperialist, limitations, showing that extensive institutionally anchored translation and interpreting research was taking place in Eastern Europe from 1918 onwards. Other contestations, from other geographical perspectives, are also possible, as are challenges from within Western European or Anglo-American traditions.

This conference will explore the period in which 鈥榥othing happened鈥.

The two-day programme will include three lectures by our keynote speakers:

Theo Hermans:聽鈥淓arly Modern Differences鈥

Hephzibah Israel:聽鈥淪peaking 鈥榙ifferent academic dialects鈥 on translation: Reflections on Disciplinary Formations鈥

Daniele Monticelli:聽鈥淥n the Advantages of Peripheries: Juri Lotman and Translation Studies

With 13 panel sessions in a hybrid format, the conference promises a deep exploration of often-neglected origins and historical insights from antiquity to the mid-20th century, encompassing regions across Europe, Asia, and more. Among the highlights of this scholarly event are two dedicated panel sessions, designed to delve into the ground-breaking developments in the field of Translation Studies in Ukraine before 1970s.

The conference is open to attendees, and we extend an invitation to all those who seek to expand their knowledge and contribute to the academic exchange.

To ensure your place, we encourage you to register by聽29 October聽2023 and secure your participation.

We look forward to your presence at the 鈥淣othing Happened鈥 conference!