Tuesday, 26 April 2011 23:50

Minority Languages and the Tensions of Translation

Call for Papers

‘Large’ and ‘small’ nations within official national boundaries co-live and preserve cultural identities in various forms. In some geographical areas, the recognition and protection of cultural heritage, including language, have entailed tensions between local, regional and national governments and users of the so-called minority languages. These tensions have been mirrored in educational curricula, in the media and in the social and political groups aiming at the promotion of these languages.

Within this panorama, translation activities contribute to the debate about the political recognition of language rights and to the processes of standardisation and normalisation of minority languages. In the last few decades, global-local economic forces, the use of far-reaching media such as the Internet and the promotion of domestic interests and commodities have increasingly affected the translation market, as there has been a growing demand for translation into and from the minority languages. Thus new tensions have been steadily arising, resulting in domesticated and foreignised cultural and language elements, and leading to the consolidation and of some texts and identities, and the fading of others.

Thus, this panel invites contributions that may offer different angles on the social, ideological and cultural implications of translating from and into a minority language. Possible topics that could be addressed include

  • the role of translated material in minority language promotion and education
  • the presence of translation activities into and from minority languages in the media
  • the promotion of local identities in global settings through translation
  • the translation of literary production as a challenge to domestication and foreignising actions.

Chair

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is a lecturer in the University of Oviedo, where she teaches British Culture, Translation and English Language. She has completed a PhD on advertising translation and has developed her research towards website translation and communication and audiovisual advertising translation. Now she coordinates the research group ILTO (Internationalization, Localization, Translation, Oviedo) in the University of Oviedo. She has experience in international programmes and EU-funded projects such as one on the Multilingual Web, which is currently active.

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