Tusaaji: A Translation Review - Patterns and Trajectories of Translation

Guest editor: Aurelia Klimkiewicz

Translation is traditionally represented as a spatial movement between two locations—typically from abroad to home—and presupposes the direct transfer of meaning from one language to another. However, current translation practices are not necessarily limited to movement across space; they can also acquire a more dynamic role that shapes the space itself, both locally and globally, from face-to-face contact to networks of human and non-human actors. This is the idea behind the concept of space as a social construct. Since this concept was introduced by Henri Lefebvre in his 1974 article La production de l’espace, important societal changes have further complexified the perception and experience of space: new technologies and means of production, globalization, free market, mass migration, multiethnic societies, and even increases in leisure travel. Contrary to the nation-state logic that advocates some degree of acculturation or assimilation of the foreign, current translation practices participate in much more complex and dynamic re/configurations of space, including densification (immigration, the multilingualization of cities, tourism), extension (the rise of global markets and institutions), contraction (exile, emigration/immigration) and fragmentation (the formation of diasporas and heterogeneous audiences). This shift from the national to the transnational brings attention to the multiplicity of micro and macro contexts, professional settings, and even alternative patterns of collaboration located in “a ‘liminal space’ between the world of activism and the service economy” (Baker, 23), in which translation may play a vital role.

This issue of Tusaaji invites contributions on the developments in the practice of translation—emerging and/or alternative trajectories, patterns and paths—that challenge the notion of translation as “the Invisible Hand in the market of communication” (Cronin, 29). Questions relevant to these issues include: How do new translation initiatives take place? How do alternative translation projects or actions impact the profession and the translator’s self-regulation and self-perception? How do translators adapt to new professional environments and reflect on their own role and profession? In what circumstances may translators challenge the status quo? What strategies help translators deal with chaos, unpredictability, improvisation and failure? Are translators aware of the impact that their work may have on society and others? What are the new channels of knowledge production emerging from current translation contexts? Is the empowerment of translators in today’s world relevant or not?

Authors are not required to limit themselves to the above list of questions. We welcome papers on all topics discussing theoretical, professional and practical issues, such as:

• Translation and close vs distant reading
• Translation and global publishing houses
• Professional vs non-professional digital literary reception (discussion forums, etc.)
• Translators and nomadism
• Translation and tourism advertising 
• Collaborative forms of translation (professional and amateur)
• Translation and labour-management relations
• Volumes and speed of translation and their management 
• Translation and activism
• Norms of translation in micro and macro contexts 
• Factors that accelerate or delay translation production, distribution and/or reception
• Private translation initiatives
• Models of tracking, mapping and monitoring the translation activity
• Translators’ blogs, forums of discussion, etc. 

We invite papers in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, or any other language of the Americas that deal with this issue’s theme. Given Tusaaji’s hemispheric focus, papers discussing the experience of translation in the Americas from this perspective are welcome; however, this issue is not restricted geographically so submissions about all languages and regions will be considered.

In addition to scholarly articles, we also invite submissions of visual art and of translations in any genre, and from/into any of the languages of the journal.

Deadline: September 30, 2020.  Submissions can be sent to the guest editor, Aurelia Klimkiewicz, at aklimkiewicz@glendon.yorku.ca with a copy to tusaaji@yorku.ca

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Baker, Mona (2013). “Translation as an Alternative Space for Political Action.” Social Movement Studies, 12:1, 23-47.

Cronin, Michael (2017). “Translation and Post-National Identity in the Digital Age.” In Ivana Hostová (ed.) Identity and Translation Trouble, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.19-33.

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