Current scholarship, whether in the humanities, social sciences or natural sciences, seems to agree that knowledge, or aspects thereof, is in some respect(s) relative to context, to a greater or lesser extent. With this as a point of departure, one can argue that context, conceptualized as an environment determined by (a) particular time(s) and space(s), also plays a role in translation practices, translation products and translation processes, in short, in the type of phenomena with which translation studies scholars busy themselves. If one grants the relativizing influence of context, it means that a field like translation studies should spend a considerable part of its time on comparing the role of context in an effort to inform a global debate on translation.
As such, it seems reasonable to argue that Africa constitutes a relatively unique context and to spend some time considering the nature of the influence that Africa as a context has on translation and translation studies, in comparison to other contexts. Conversely, systems theory predicts that translation practices and the study of these practices will feed back into the systems in which it operates, i.e. the context. The ways in which contexts are co-constructed by practices and emerge out of these practices are thus relevant to translation studies.
To consider Africa as a context, one could conceptualize Africa from a number of perspectives. In translation studies, Paul Bandia has done so from a postcolonial perspective and Alamin Mazrui has done so from a political-culture perspective, to name only two. Work has also been done in descriptive translation studies on the African continent, and in some circles, linguistics studies on translation are also carried out. These perspectives, and others such as Bible translation and community interpreting, may not have been explored to their full potential and seem to allow for further research, which could be explored for this conference.
Another avenue for considering Africa as a context for translation studies would be to look for alternative conceptual perspectives from which to study translation. Recent work in conceptualising the relationship between translation and development would be one option. It also seems that many options exist for sociological approaches as not much has been written about translation in Africa from a sociological perspective. Furthermore, translation studies scholars have also not yet explored the economy, in particular the informal economy, as part of the contextual constraints. Tapping into the oral culture of Africa may open further avenues. Lastly, the teaching of translation and interpreting in Africa in response to the contextual constraints is an avenue that warrants exploration.
In light of the above, the Association for Translation Studies in Africa announces its second conference to be held at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa on 25 and 26 May 2018. We invite abstracts of between 300 and 350 words on research related to the various avenues or perspectives above. Topics related but not limited to the following will be considered:
· Theoretical work on context and universalism in translation studies, including the implications of continentalism.
· Conceptualisations of translation as influenced by Africa as context.
· Empirical data on translation and interpreting practices in Africa.
· Comparing data from Africa with data from other contexts.
· Theorising the implications of data on African practices.
· Considering and comparing Africa as a developmental context in translation.
· Teaching translation and interpreting in the African context.
· Exploring marginal practices in the African context, or comparing marginal practices across continents, for example practices in marginal languages, by marginal groups or in marginal contexts.
Abstracts should be e-mailed to ATSA2018@ufs.ac.za before Monday, 17 July 2017, along with the title of the paper, name, affiliation and short biography of the speaker.
For more information on the conference, please visit https://atranslationstudiesafrica.wordpress.com/atsa-conference/
Schedule
17 July 2017: Deadline for abstracts
1 September 2017: Accepted abstracts notified
1 October 2017 – 1 February 2018: Early-bird registration
2 February to 1 May 2018: Normal registration
25-26 May 2018: Conference
The international conference Translation Beyond Human Languages and Cultures in Times of Ecological Crises welcomes abstract submissions for the event taking place on 12–13 November 2026 at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul, Türkiye. Researchers are invited to submit their proposals to beyondhumanconf@gmail.com. SUBMISSIONSEach paper presentation will be allotted 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion.Submissions for individual presentations should include:- An abstract of no more than 300 words,- A short bionote including name, affiliation, and email address,- Up to five keywords indicating the subject, methodology, and theoretical framework(s).Submissions are open until 01 April 2026.WORKING LANGUAGESAll proposals must be submitted in French or English for peer review by the Scientific Committee. Interpreting between French and English may be offered depending on available resources. Questions and discussions during the conference may take place in both languages.KEYNOTE SPEAKERSMichael Cronin (Trinity College, Dublin) Kobus Marais (University of the Free State, Bloemfontein) Şebnem Susam-Saraeva (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh)CONFERENCE FEESConference fees will be split into two categories: € 120 regular fee € 90 reduced fee for postgraduate studentsDetails regarding the conference will be shared in due course via the following link: https://avesis.yildiz.edu.tr/researchteamsite/biodemocraticpractices
The Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpreting Studies of the University of Malta, the Graduate Institute of Interpreting and Translation of Shanghai International Studies University and the Department of Theory of Translation and Comparative Linguistics of the National University of Uzbekistan are organizing an international conference in ‘Indirect Translation: A Two-Arched Bridge Between Cultures’ in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 15-17 April 2026. For further information see the call for papers at https://www.um.edu.mt/media/um/docs/faculties/arts/translation/CallforPapersTashkent2026_FinalUM.pdf
Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting UK and IrelandWe are delighted to announce that the 2026 APTIS conference will take place in Wales for the first time, being jointly hosted by Cardiff University and Swansea University. The conference will take place from 15-17 April 2026 in Cardiff, with an optional ‘cultural’ day in Swansea on Saturday 18 April. We welcome abstract submissions for traditional papers, book launches, workshops, and students’ flash talks. Please note that the deadline for proposal is 15th December 2025. For more information and to submit an abstract proposal, please go to our website: https://www.aptis-translation-interpreting.com/aptis-2026
Guest editors:Anna Strowe (University of Manchester)Richard Mansell (University of Exeter)Helle V. Dam (Aarhus University)This special issue focuses on the normative expectations around translators, including norms around translator identity, as well as around hiring or selection processes and understandings of competence or expertise. By applying the concept of norms to the area of translators and translatorship, we hope to connect conversations about the multiple intersecting systems of values that underpin those norms, often silently, ranging from beliefs about education, language skill, and qualification, to understandings of professionalism, economics, and translation itself, while continuing to explore the dimensions and qualities of translator identity and presentation. The norms themselves are at the centre of the topic, along with the values from which they emerge and with which they engage, but as with investigation of other types of norms, they must be extrapolated from available forms of data, for example texts by and about translators, or trends in hiring or training.As scholarship in translation studies has broadened, first from linguistic approaches to cultural and sociological approaches, and then to a focus on the translator, we have increasingly come to understand that we must view translation as a socially-situated practice or set of practices, carried out by agents whose behaviour and choices are influenced by a variety of external as well as internal factors. A large part of the focus has been on using this perspective to better understand the choices that are made in translating – that is, the specific textual decisions made by translators – but interest has also grown significantly in questions that move beyond textual choices and comparative textual analysis. There are significant threads of scholarship for example on the cultural or structural aspects of non-professional translation and interpreting (e.g. Antonini et al. 2017; Pérez-González and Susam-Saraeva 2012), the relationships between translation and activism (e.g. Boéri 2024; Gould and Tahmasebian 2020; Tymoczko 2010), and the impact of emerging technologies and digital spaces on perceptions of translatorship (e.g. Zhang et al. 2024), among many others.Norms have long been a productive tool for translation studies, but existing articulations and uses have focused on the translational norms that we understand as governing micro- and macro-level translation choices. Meylaerts (2008) discusses individual translators and their identities and profiles in relation to the norms of translation and the profession, following Simeoni (1998) in connecting these to Bourdieu’s notion of habitus. However, behaviour around translator identities and characteristics, such as hiring or self-presentation, can also be examined in terms of norms. In a recent article, Strowe (2024) suggests considering translator selection as norm-driven could help us better recognize the values and decisions around translator recruitment and deconstruct assumptions around translator choice and identity.These norms are reflected in patterns in hiring trends, the translation industry, job advertisements, and translators’ websites or blogs, for example, but they also inform a variety of aspects of how translatorship is constructed. The self-image and presentation or representation of translators is informed by beliefs about what responsibilities, tasks, and capacities are involved in being a translator, areas that intersect both with culturally constructed notions of what constitutes and delimits translation itself (see Tymoczko 2007) and with what forms of social, cultural, and legal understandings we have about various agents’ forms of responsibility for texts (see Bantinaki 2020; Pym 2011).The special issue will collect both empirical studies that explore areas related to translator norms, and articles exploring either the theorization of translator norms or the methodological possibilities of this kind of work. Potential questions to explore include (but are not limited to) the following:How might we theorize norms around translator identity, self-presentation, hiring etc.?What kinds of translator norms can be identified within the LSP industry or in other contexts in which translation is done?What differences are there in translator norms across different contexts or domains, and how do these differences affect practices of translation?How can we understand projections of translator image as a form of representation of translator norm? • How are translator norms changing in the face of developments in digital technology?What kinds of research methods facilitate the exploration of translator norms?This is an open call, and the editors particularly welcome proposals from researchers whose workintersects with translator identity or self-presentation;looks at industry expectations around translators and hiring practices;seeks to describe and delimit the spaces of human agency and identity around translation amidst the growing presence of AI.Submission Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted by November 24 to Anna Strowe by email (anna.strowe@manchester.ac.uk). Once invited to do so by the editors, selected authors will be asked to submit an article of between 7000 and 8000 words, including references, through the journal’s online portal no later than May 30, 2026.A full schedule of dates plus the bibliography is available here: https://benjamins.com/series/ts/callforpapers.pdf
Life Writing and Translation Thursday 18 – Friday 19 June 2026 University of Geneva Abstract of no more than 250 words (bibliography excluded) in English or French are now invited and should be submitted to lifewritingtranslation@unige.ch by 16 November 2025. Notifications of acceptance will be distributed at the beginning of February 2026. Please find more information on abstracts on the Conference website: https://www.humanmovement.cam.ac.uk/events/translating-conflict-and-refuge-language-displacement-and-politics-representation
