Since the “sociological turn”, the object of study in literary translation research has expanded beyond the textual to examine literary translators and their labour within the contexts that they work. By applying sociological frameworks such as the Bourdieusian sociology of cultural production, scholars have demonstrated the fruitfulness of examining the roles played by translators in the movement of literary texts between languages and cultures and their positions within the fields of power that govern these processes (Sapiro, 2008; 2016). In doing so, sociological investigations into the agency, habitus and role of literary translators have echoed calls within the discipline more broadly to refocus our attention on the figure of the translator within translation studies (e.g. Simeoni, 1998; Sela-Sheffy 2005, 2008; Hu, 2004), which have since developed into the subfield of “translator studies” (Chesterman, 2009) and more recently, “literary translator studies” (Kaindl et al., 2021).
However, despite the focus of sociological and translator studies on the agency and habitus of translators in literary translation processes, little has been done to connect this work to broader sociological understandings of publishing practices, a field of research where translation and translators also remain largely invisible — particularly in digital contexts. For instance, in Simone Murray’s Bourdieusian charting of The Digital Literary Sphere (2018), she gives only limited reference to the cultural capital required to initiate translation processes, whilst John Thompson provides a limited overview of the powerful global position enjoyed by English-language texts in comparison to translations into English (2010, 13) and the sale of foreign language rights by Anglophone literary agents (61-69) with no reference made to translators themselves. As such, this special issue seeks to bridge this gap between sociological approaches in translation studies and other fields such as publishing studies and book history, whilst continuing steps towards understanding the relationships between humans and digital contexts seen in the work of scholars such as Cronin (2012) and Desjardins et al. (2020).
To achieve this aim, suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
Prospective authors should submit abstracts for their proposed papers (400-500 words, excluding references) to literarytranslatorspecialissue@gmail.com by 31 October 2022.
Timeline:
References:
Chesterman, A. 2009. The Name and Nature of Translator Studies. Hermes – Journal of Language and Communication in Business. 42, pp.13-22.
Cronin, M. 2012. Translation in the digital age. London and New York: Routledge.
Desjardins, R., Larsonneur, C. and Lacour, P. eds. 2021. When Translation Goes Digital: Case Studies and Critical Reflections. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hu, G. 2004. Translator-Centredness. Perspectives 12 (2), pp.106-117.
Kaindl, K., Waltraud Kolb, and Daniela Schlager. eds. 2021. Literary Translator Studies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Murray, S. 2018. The digital literary sphere: reading, writing, and selling books in the Internet era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Sapiro, G. 2008. Translation and the Field of Publishing: A Commentary on Pierre Bourdieu’s “A Conservative Revolution in Publishing”. Translation Studies. 1(2), pp.154-166.
Sapiro, G. 2016. How Do Literary Works Cross Borders (or Not)? A Sociological Approach to World Literature. Journal of World Literature. 1(1), pp.81-96.
Sela-Sheffy, R. 2005. How to be a (recognized) translator: Rethinking habitus, norms, and the field of translation. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies. 17(1), pp. 1-26.
Sela-Sheffy, R. 2008. The Translators’ Personae: Marketing Translatorial Images as Pursuit of Capital. Meta. 52(3), pp. 609-622.
Simeoni, D. 1998. The Pivotal Status of the Translator’s Habitus. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies. 10(1), pp. 1-39.
Thompson, J. B. 2010. Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Polity Press.
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
