Call for papers for Issue 13 of the International Journal Syn-Thèses published by the School of French Language and Literature Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
“Once upon a time… and still going on”. The inclusion of the traditional tale in contemporary children’s literature: literary, educational, and translation issues
Over the past forty years, the folk and literary tale has been enjoying an extraordinary revival. Contemporary writers have been inspired by traditional tales and have explored their motifs in a variety of ways in their own fiction, including novels, short stories, plays, as well as new tales. A volume entitled L’épanchement du conte dans la littérature, edited by Christiane Connan-Pintado, Pascale Auraix-Jonchière and Gilles Béhotéguy (2018), brings together several interesting texts that question the relationship of the tale with different literary genres, which it hybridizes by being incorporated into them.
In the forthcoming issue of the journal Syn-Thèses, we propose to address this renewed and hybrid presence of the tale within children’s literature, aiming to highlight the literary, educational, and translation issues that this new tale-writing is confronted with.
Without this being a comprehensive list, here are some questions that could be addressed from one of the following perspectives:
Literary issues
-What do these stories, which are based on traditional tales of all origins, bring to the table, either through an original rewriting or through the use of themes, motifs and characters?
- What is of particular interest in this fusion of genres on a narrative level?
- How can we explain the current enthusiasm over these modern rewritings, which appear in a poetic, theatrical or fiction form, and in which the genre of the tale is updated?
- What does this meeting place of genres have to offer, and how can this hybridisation reflect the problems of today's society (new conceptions of the family, of children, women, changes in intergenerational relations, reflections on violence, social precariousness, problems of identity, etc.)?
- What is the function of humour, parody, and ‘détournement’ in of all these adaptations for children?
- What is the relationship between text and image, and its impact on the narrative, particularly in children's books which have been produced in abundance in recent years?
- How can literary devices, such as allusion, irony, metaphor, etc., be translated into an image? How does this fertile alternation between two semiotic systems operate?
- What is of interest in a comparative study between two different versions of the same tale, for example, the original narrative version and its dramatisation or audiovisual adaptation?
Educational and teaching issues
- How much present are these modern rewritings of tales in teaching-learning methods and/or textbooks?
- How can the intercultural, humorous, and multimodal dimensions of the tale or its adaptations be utilised in class?
- How could the tale be used for didactic purposes within the framework of an active pedagogy: familiarisation of the learner with the world of writing, creative writing workshops, transmission of cultural heritage, bringing together different cultures - French and North African, for example -, etc.?
- How can we develop media and digital literacies, transliteracy, or even the learning of plural languages through storytelling?
Issues arising during the translation process
- What cultural hierarchies over-define the translational choices regarding stories at all levels?
- What is the role of ideology in the translation of tales?
- What translation strategies and techniques allow for the cultural dimension of the text to be restored?
- How are humour, intertextuality and interdiscursivity, as well as the symbolic dimension of the tale rendered in the target language-culture? What is the impact on orality, musicality and rhythm?
- How can the linguistic message of stories be translated intersemiotically?
- What is the role of the media in the translation of tales?
- How does the target audience and the norms of the genre affect translation choices?
References
Connan-Pintado, C., Auraix-Jonchière, P., & Béhotéguy, G. (Dir.). (2018). L’épanchement du conte dans la littérature. Presses universitaires de Bordeaux. Coll. Modernités43. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pub.7664
Submission of abstracts: October 11th, 2022
Submission of articles: February 11th, 2023, Politimi Makropoulou (politimi@frl.auth.gr) Olivier Delhaye (delhaye@frl.auth.gr) and Simos Grammenidis (simgram@frl.auth.gr )
Language: French, English, Greek
Editorial standards: https://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/syn-theses/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
Scientific Committee
Marie-Christine Anastassiadi, University of Athens
Olivier Delhaye, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Titika Dimitroulia, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
George Floros, University of Cyprus
Simos Grammenidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Polytimi Makropoulou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Evangelia Moussouri, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Ioannis Pagalos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Marita Paparoussi, University of Thessaly
Tasoula Tsilimeni, University of Thessaly
Freiderikos Valetopoulos, University of Poitiers
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
APTIS25 Online Conference at the UCL Centre for Translation Studies (3–4 November 2025) “Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?” The UCL Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) is looking forward to hosting the APTIS25 online conference. The APTIS25 conference (“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”) will take place on 3–4 November 2025 via Zoom Webinar. We encourage submissions from both academic and industry speakers. Please see our Call for Contributions as well as the Types of Contributions section to know more about the contributions that APTIS25 will be welcoming. If you would like to contribute to APTIS25 by presenting a talk or a roundtable, please visit the Submit a Proposal section, where you will find the link to send your abstract. Please kindly refer to the Key Dates to know more about submission and registration deadlines. https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/aptis25ucl
APTIS25 Online Conference at the UCL Centre for Translation Studies (3–4 November 2025)“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”The UCL Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) is looking forward to hosting the APTIS25 online conference. The APTIS25 conference (“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”) will take place on 3–4 November 2025 via Zoom Webinar.We encourage submissions from both academic and industry speakers. Please see our Call for Contributions as well as the Types of Contributions section to know more about the contributions that APTIS25 will be welcoming. If you would like to contribute to APTIS25 by presenting a talk or a roundtable, please visit the Submit a Proposal section, where you will find the link to send your abstract.Please kindly refer to the Key Dates to know more about submission and registration deadlines.https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/aptis25ucl
Hieronymus is the first Croatian journal dedicated exclusively to publishing research and professional articles in the field of translation studies and terminology. The journal has the following key goals: (1) to promote translation studies and terminology in Croatia and the broader region, where these two disciplines are not always recognized; and (2) to enhance local researchers’ visibility in the international translation studies community. For the Research Section of the journal, we welcome empirical studies with clear goals and well-defined methodology in any area of translation studies or terminology. In addition, papers presenting and discussing any area of professional translation or terminological practice are invited for the Professional section. Contributions by early career researchers (pre-Ph.D. or recently obtaining a Ph.D.) as well as young professionals are gladly accepted. In both sections of the journal, contributors from Croatia and the broader region are particularly welcome, in line with the journal’s mission outlined above. The preferred languages are English and Croatian. We accept submissions throughout the year, but for consideration in issue 12 (to be published in December 2025), submissions need to be sent by 30 March 2025 at the latest. Submissions will first be considered by the Editorial Team and, if they pass this initial screening, they will be forwarded for a double-blind peer review. Authors whose papers are accepted for publication must certify that their work has not been previously published. All papers are published in Open Access under the Creative Commons 4.0 open license. For information on citation style and formatting, please consult our Contributors page and Submission Guidelines. Please send your contributions to the following addresses: knikoli@ffzg.unizg.hr sveselic@ffzg.unizg.hr If you have any queries regarding this call, please do not hesitate to contact us
