Call for Papers
In 1921, Walter Benjamin wrote the essay “Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers” as an introduction to his translation of Tableaux parisiens by Charles Baudelaire. Published in 1923 and translated by Harry Zohn in 1968 as “The Task of the Translator,” it has since been widely circulated among scholars and become one of the most frequently cited works in the fields of translation, literature and cultural studies. The reading and interpretation made by Paul de Man and Jacques Derrida further ushered in “the cultural turn” of translation studies in the 1980s and 1990s, a theoretical and methodological shift in translation studies from more rigid equivalence-oriented theories to cross-discipline explorations. Translation studies has subsequently drawn upon and contributed to the fields of cultural studies, gender studies, post-colonial discourse, and so forth, yielding fruitful research results.
The year of 2021 marks not only the centennial celebration of Benjamin’s essay on the translator’s task, but also the 25th anniversary of the International Symposium on Translation and Interpretation. Therefore, the conference theme is “the task of the translator,” on the one hand dedicated to salute and honor Walter Benjamin and on the other hand taken as an opportunity to encourage broader discussions on current translation and interpretation praxis, researches and teaching in a post-modern, post-colonial, post-global, post-humanist context today.
Over the past hundred years we have witnessed some of the most profound changes in human history. For instance, one hundred years ago, the term “computer” means a person performing the task of mathematical calculations, rather than a machine. Will one day the so-called “translator” no longer primarily mean “human translators or interpreters” but “machine translator,” as today’s translators are working in an era of the rapidly developing AI technology. What are their tasks or vocational callings? Technological impact also has a direct impact on the training of a translator and interpreter. Perhaps there is no better time than now for us to engage in a “kairotic” dialogue with Walter Benjamin about language, translation, interpretation and technology. We welcome any papers related to the conference theme. Possible topics of investigation may include, but are not limited to, the following:
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l Translation/Interpreting History |
l Translation/Interpreting and Technology |
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l Literature & Revolution |
l Translation/Interpreting and Memory |
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l Genre and Translation |
l Translation/Interpreting and Teaching |
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l Translatability and untranslatability |
l Translation/Interpreting and Media |
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l Non-professional Translation/ Interpreting |
l Translation/Interpreting and Theology |
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l Translation/Interpreting from A Glocalization Perspective |
l Translation/Interpreting and Gender Studies |
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l Translation Studies from a Posthuman Perspective |
l Translation/Interpreting and Philosophy of Language |
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l Postcolonialism and Power Relation |
l Translation and Comparative/World Literature |
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l Poets, Writers and Translators |
l Comparative Analysis of Different Translations |
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l Cross-cultural Translation |
l Agency of A Translator/Interpreter |
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l Linguistic Hybridity and Translation |
l Manipulation of A Translator/Interpreter |
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l Audio-visual Translation |
l Training of A Translator/Interpreter |
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l Machine Translation |
If you are interested in presenting your work in this conference, please submit an abstract (about 500 words) in Chinese and/or English with a filled Paper Submission Application Form (downloadable at http://english.scu.edu.tw/?p=3349&lang=en) to liaowei@scu.edu.tw by March 1st, 2021. Click here to download the application form.
Please note: This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures, a pre-recorded presentation will be provided by authors with accepted papers who are unable to attend the conference due to travel bans, home quarantine (either government-enforced or locally monitored), and self-health monitoring.
Important Dates
Abstract submission deadline: March 1st, 2021
Abstract acceptance notification: March 15th, 2021
Full paper submission deadline: May 1st, 2021
Conference date: June 5th, 2021
Contact Information
Willis Liao
Department of English Language and Literature
Address: No. 70, Linxi Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City 111, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Phone: +886-2-28819471 extension 6486
Fax: +886-2-28817609
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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/
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