Book history and translation studies have significantly enhanced our understanding of print culture. Although driven respectively by bibliographic and comparativist linguistic interests, the two fields have converged into a shared perception of texts as cultural and social products controlled by interconnected networks of agents. Efforts to delve deeper into the nature of these networks and into the mobility of printed texts have led to fruitful cross-disciplinary intersections. As a result, translation scholars are becoming increasingly receptive to the relevance of textual materiality while book historians are turning to comparative approaches and the transnational side of publishing. On a general level, texts and their trajectories are more and more frequently analysed by integrating conceptual, methodological and theoretical frameworks originally developed in either book history or translation studies (see for example Heilbrom 2008; Bachleitner 2010; Freedman 2012; O’Sullivan 2012; Armstrong 2013; Littau 2016; Belle & Hosington 2017). The success of this interdisciplinary approach is leading to a growing awareness that further dialogue between studies and book history is needed to achieve more accurate representations of the transnational life of print culture. This special issue aims at exploring and further promoting intersections between the two fields with a particular focus on the multifaceted international publishing panorama that characterised the period between 1700 and 1950. Contributions are especially encouraged on thematic areas including:
- The materiality of translation
- Translations’ paratext and translation of paratext
- Translation and the transnationalisation of print culture
- Translation and the sociology of texts
- Translation and textual bibliography
- Agents involved in the production and distribution of translations and their relation on a
national and international level
- Translation of popular literature and ephemera
- Translation and book illustration
- Translation, religion and book history
- Translation and musical texts
- Terminology of the book across languages
- Translation and the transformation of reading habits and attitudes
- Research methodologies in translation studies and book history
Instructions for authors
Submission instructions
Articles will be about 7000 words in length, in English (including notes and references)
Abstracts of 500-700 words (including references) should be sent together with a short biographical note to the guest editors at translationbookhistory@gmail.com
Schedule
28 February 2018 – deadline to submit abstracts and biographical note to the guest editors
23 March 2018 – deadline for decisions on abstracts
31 August 2018 – deadline for submission of articles
23 November 2018 – submission of final version of papers
June 2019 – publication of the issue
All articles will be reviewed by two readers.
For information please contact Alice Colombo at translationbookhistory@gmail.com
For information about the journal please visit http://www.euppublishing.com/loi/ccs
Call for PapersEvent: the 16th International Symposium on Bilingualism.Place and date: University of Saskatchewan, Canada, June 14-18, 2027. Thems and topics:Bi-multilingual speech and communicationCognitive, neuro- and psycholinguisticsChild and adolescent bi-multilingual developmentAdult bi-multilingual developmentEducation and pedagogy HJHeritage, immigrant, regional and other minority languagesIndigenous languagesTranslation and InterpretingSociolinguistics and Sociology of languageSpeech-language pathology; Health CommunicationAbstract submission deadline: 1 October 2026. More details: https://conferences.usask.ca/isb16/
Call for Abstracts This is a call for an edited volume on 'Translators at Work in Periodicals: Agency, Mediation, and Cultural Power'. Edited by Ivana Hostová and Eva SpišiakováSuggested topics:• periodicals as infrastructures of literary, cultural, and intellectual mediation• translators, editors, reviewers, and other mediators shaping periodical cultures• translators’ multiple roles, including editing, curating, annotating, and framing• distributed, relational, or contested agency in periodical cultures• translator agency, editorial strategy, and activism• translation in peripheral, semi-peripheral, or politically unstable ecologies• periodicals as spaces of cultural resistance, ideological struggle, or symbolic negotiation• paratextual framing, editorial positioning, and the politics of selection• material and medial conditions of translation, including format, layout, page space, seriality, and multimodality• circulation of minoritized, marginalized, or non-canonical literatures• periodicals and the transfer of theory, philosophy, science, or political ideas• translation in periodicals and the making of national, regional, or transnational cultures• microhistorical or biographical studies of translators and editors• actor-network, social-network, bibliographic, or database-driven approaches• methodological reflections on blending close reading with large-scale or digitally assisted analysisDeadline for abstracts: 31 December 2026Deadline for full chapters: 31 July 2028Expected publication: 2029Full info: https://ktr.ff.ukf.sk/en/research/call-for-abstracts-translators-at-work-in-periodicals-agency-mediation-and-cultural-power/
Call for Papers:Conference: Global North and Global South Perspectives on Literature, Linguistics, and Translation.Organised by the Research Centre for Irish Studies (RCIS).Date: 7-8 June 2026. Main themes: Literature;Irish Studies;Linguistics;Translation, Power and Knowledge Circulation. Submission deadline: 30 April 2026More info: https://old.bue.edu.eg/global-north-and-global-south-perspectives-on-literature-linguistics-and-translation-conference-7-8-june-2026/
Call for papers:Journal: Translation in Society.Special issue on 'Translation, Social Media, and the Creator Economy' (2028)Guest editors: Renée Desjardins & Émilie Gobeil-Roberge.Main themes: Translation strategies and practices among creators, influencers, and social media usersTranslation tools used by creators and influencers to expand their multilingual reachTranslation as a form of online compliance or resistanceTranslation and online misinformation, disinformation, and propagandaTranslation, social platforms, and societyTerminology related to the social internet and the creator economySocial platform translation and language policiesMultilingual influencers and creatorsMultilingual online activismMultilingual fandomsMultilingual and translation trends on social platformsDeadline for abstract submissions: July 1, 2026Full info: https://www.benjamins.com/series/tris/callforpapers.pdf
Call for PapersThis is a call to submit papers to the non-thematic issue of JosTrans, 48, to be published in July 2027. The journal welcomes submissions on:Theoretical, methodological and practical issues in specialised translation,Subject field translation/interpreting, i.e. medical, legal, financial, technical, localisation, etc.Media accessibility and audiovisual translationTranslation technologies, translation and AI (with human factors),Aspects of training and teaching specialised translation/interpreting.Submission deadline: June 30, 2026. More details: https://www.jostrans.org/about/cfp48
