Edited by Gianluca Pontrandolfo, University of Trieste and Carla Quinci, University of Padua
Many myths and deep concerns surround neural machine translation (NMT) and the role specialised translators play in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). The scary idea of ‘human parity’, i.e. the belief that NMT can achieve human quality, sparks off heated debates about the implications of the recent outstanding technological advancement for the translation profession. The alleged threats posed by the results achieved by AI in combination with the gaps in the academic literature about the functioning of (N)MT and its influence on the translation process and product have caused widespread scepticism and mistrust, when not an a priori rejection of NMT. Scholars worldwide have attempted to debunk these myths by studying the actual advantages and disadvantages of using automation. For instance, do Carmo (2023) recently proposed the term “artificial translation” – rather than “machine translation” – to stress that MT does not perform a complete translation process, which would take into account not just the meaning of the source and the target sentences but also extratextual elements e.g. the voice of the author, the intended readers, the purpose of the target texts, which are crucial in any (legal) translation brief (Scott 2019: 81-102).
These concerns are particularly serious in the legal field, where the legal and ethical risks (Canfora & Ottmann 2020, Kenny, Moorkens & do Carmo 2020, Moorkens 2022) related to privacy and confidentiality, together with low risk tolerance and liability, contribute to that feeling of scepticism and mistrust. Thus, legal translation has generally been considered unsuitable for automation (Sánchez-Gijón & Kenny 2022, 85-86), especially due to its inherent challenges. While other specialised fields tend towards conceptual universality and univocity, legal notions and procedures are largely system-bound and historically rooted, which naturally reflects on individual legal languages and culture-bound legal references (cf. Biel 2022). This results in incongruities and asymmetries, which represent the typical challenges faced by legal translators (see Biel 2014, Pontrandolfo 2019). Another distinctive feature of this specialisation is the high variability of the texts and legal conditions that determine the role of translation itself in each communicative situation, i.e. its communicative priorities between or within legal systems, according to the conventions of specific branches of law and legal genres at the national and international levels (Cao 2007, Biel 2014, Biel et al. 2019, Prieto Ramos 2022). Legal translation involves negotiating not only between legal languages/discourses but also – and most importantly – between legal systems and legal genres (see Scott 2019: 31-55).
However, the evolution of AI and MT is changing the legal professional landscape, where the ‘triangle of MT’ (quality, price and speed) still plays a pivotal role. Legal translation service providers as well as law firms are increasingly betting on AI and NMT worldwide. Thanks to the growing quality of MT outputs and the development of custom engines (Martínez Domínguez et al. 2020), NMT and machine translation post-editing (MTPE) are now also used in the legal sector. The most recent version of the EMT Competence Framework “acknowledges that [it] represents a growing part of translation workflows, and that MT literacy and awareness of the possibilities and limitations of MT is an integral part of professional translation competence” (EMT Expert Group 2022, 7). Then, the question is not so much if machine translation and post-editing (PE) should be implemented in legal translator training but when, and how they are and will be used by professional translators (Quinci, forthcoming; Quinci & Pontrandolfo 2023).
Against this background, this Special Issue aims at mapping the new opportunities and risks related to fast technological advancement and the rapidly changing landscape of legal translation in training and professional settings by exploring a wide array of issues including, but not limited to, the following:
Deadline for submissions: 30 April 2024
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Call for AbstractConference: the 19th International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting (IPCITI)Venue: Dublin City UniversityDate: 3-4 December 2026Theme: Across Academia and Industry: (In)Visibility and Interdisciplinarity in Translation and InterpretingTopics include:Interdisciplinary engagement with translation and interpreting studies (e.g. Comparative Literature, Linguistics, Cultural Studies, Sociology and Anthropology)Interdisciplinarity and knowledge exchange in translation and interpreting studies (e.g. Communication Studies, Information Science, Higher Education Studies)Visibility and invisibility of translation and interpreting research (e.g. Sociology of Knowledge, Media Studies)Translation and interpreting across academia, institutions and industry (e.g. International Relations, Public Policy)Translation and interpreting technologies and digital practices (Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Natural Language Processing (NLP))Translator and interpreter training and pedagogy (e.g. Curriculum Design, Cognitive Psychology, Applied Linguistics)Community and public service interpreting (e.g. Medical Humanities, Social Work)Specialised translation (e.g. terminology, literary translation, audiovisual translation, localisation)Professional identities, ethics, and labour conditions (e.g. Professional Ethics, Labour Economics, Human Resource Management)Translation, migration, multilingualism, human rights, and social justice (e.g. Human Rights Law, Migration Studies, Political Philosophy)Critical approaches to translation studies (e.g. Decolonisation of Translation and Interpreting Studies, Postcolonial Theory, Gender Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis, Deconstruction)Innovative, creative and interdisciplinary research methodologies in translation and interpreting studies (e.g. Digital Humanities, Corpus Linguistics, Ethnography, Mixed Methods Research)Translation and interpreting in crisis and conflict settings (e.g. Peace and Conflict Studies, Disaster Management, Risk and Crisis Communication)Deadline for abstract submission: 31 August 2026More details: https://www.dcu.ie/ctts/ipciti-2026
Call for Papers:Journal: Special Issue of Translation and Interpreting Studies (John Benjamins).The journal is inviting submissions for extended abstracts for a special issue of Translation and Interpreting Studies (John Benjamins) on the topic of 'Knowledge Construction in Multilingual Research: Research Ethics Meets Translation Theory' Editors: Robert Gibb, Nadja Grbić, and Rafael Schögler.Submissions of extended abstracts (300-500 words) can be sent to the guest editors until 15 September 2026.More details: https://static.uni-graz.at/fileadmin/gewi-institute/Translationswissenschaft/Bilder/2026/Special-issue_TiS_2029_gibb_grbic_schoegler.pdf
Call for Papers: Journal: BRIDGE: TRENDS AND TRADITIONS IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING STUDIESThemes: Audiovisual Translation at the Crossroads: Special Issue: Bridging Media Accessibility, AI, and EFL Education. Special Issue, Vol. 7(2), 2026.Editor: Angela SileoCovered Topics:AVT and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the technological dimension;AVT and Media Accessibility (MA), the social dimension; andAVT in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education, the didactic dimension.Deadline for submission: 23 November 2026More details: https://www.bridge.ff.ukf.sk/index.php/bridge/callforpapers
International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies9th International ConferenceUniversity of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o WaitahaChristchurch, New Zealand7-10 December Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis Conference Theme Language, hospitality, and crisis are, and always have been, historically and globally intertwined concepts. The notion of hospitality is deeply rooted in complex and long-standing histories of encounters; of conflict and persecution; but also of travel and adventure. The specular relationship between alterity and subjectivity is at its core, and so too is the very fabric of sociability. The closest Te Reo Māori equivalent to hospitality, manaakitanga, echoes this dynamic, as it implies the collective nurturing of relationships in which the mana (dignity, prestige, and spiritual power) of all those involved is upheld and elevated. From these histories and terms, we are confronted with the (unwritten) rules, obligations, and laws related to hospitality which encapsulate examples on a micro- and macrostructural level: from welcoming guests into a nation—as immigrants or refugees—to providing shelter and support in the community in times of crisis, right down to individual acts of kindness and aid, such as welcoming a friend, family-member or stranger into one’s home. However, not all guests and hosts are created equal, and hospitality is not always synonymous with kindness and welcoming. The (de)colonial perspectives evident from Latin America to Oceania and beyond, where indigenous peoples were constructed as ‘unwelcome guests’ in their own land, offer fruitful examples of how historically, as well as in contemporary contexts, hospitality has often functioned as a lens through which asymmetrical power relations can be understood. Several linguists and philosophers have scrutinized the ambivalence inherent to hospitality, elucidating its semantic and pragmatic conceptions, as well as its etymological misunderstandings and polysemy. Paola Zaccaria summarizes this dynamic as follows: “In Latin, the guest, being a stranger, was called both hospes (whence the etymological root of hospitality) and hostis, which means “enemy.” [Émile] Benveniste argued that the notion of favorable stranger evolved into guest, while a hostile stranger was considered an enemy" (Zaccaria, 2022, p. 182). Such etymological linkage led Jacques Derrida to coin the neologism “hostipitality” (Derrida & Dufourmantelle, 2000), suggesting that welcoming the Other can lead to a host’s vulnerability, and that embedded within hospitality are the very seeds of its own potential destruction. Welcoming the guest—the Other, a frenemy, AI—can lead to the host’s sovereignty unravelling, where sovereignty can be understood in its broadest conceptual sense possible: one’s space (or home) as well as one’s identity and integrity. This intersubjective blending is even more apparent when we take into consideration that Derrida writes in French where the term hôte can denote, depending on the context, either guest or host. Interpretations and translations of hospitality continue today: whether it be as a pragmatic form or an abstract, philosophical construct, the concept will (and arguably should) never be laid to rest. While the very notion of hospitality, the givenness of its communal veracity is obviously enabling, we do not need to look too far in our current climate to witness how conceptually, at least, it has been called into crisis. ‘Crisis,’ at its very root, indicates a turning point and a decision. Not all crises are therefore inherently bad or negative, and yet the term is rarely shrouded in positivity. In a post-truth era; as we explore the use and limits of AI; as we further communicate through the semiotics of emojis; as teeter-tottering governments modify language policies, and as institutional settings regulate and enact the boundaries in which we work and live, we must ask: is language—and are languages—in crisis? And can the same be said of hospitality? Translation, Interpreting, and interculturality are at the very heart of both hospitality and crisis, as the latter inevitably creates contexts of language contact due to globalization, as well as chosen and forced migration. With this conference topic, there are two potential thematic avenues for presenters to explore in relation to Translation, Interpreting, as well as Intercultural Studies: one more aligned with the multifaceted notion and voices of ‘hospitality’ and the other with ‘crisis.’ This conference therefore calls on scholars, educators, and practitioners to reflect and present on these disciplines and their interaction with these themes as they play out in their professional, creative, and scholarly reflections and important work. Possible subthemes to explore include: · T&I and the guest-host dynamic· Violence in/and T&I· Language(s) in crisis· Hospitality and crisis· Regional and minority languages· Data Sovereignty and indigenous languages· AI and/in crisis – trust, machine translation, and language access in crisis situations· T&I in hospitality & tourism· T&I in regional conflicts· T&I in natural disasters· Hospitality and ethics in relation to volunteer translation, AI-assisted translation, and the sustainability of the profession· The translation/non-translation of literature as examples of hostipitality· Rethinking T&I and sovereignty through Indigenous Knowledges· The ethics and politics of translation and intercultural studies research, education, and practice: a turning point?· (Feminist) ethics of care· Disability Studies and the Politics of language(s) in translation and interpretation – who gets to speak?· Lost languages – linguistic preservation, hospitality, and ethics· Resisting the status quo – rethinking dissemination of translations as a question of the commonsLanguage Policy· All abstracts/proposals for individual papers (20 minutes each) and panels must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Advisory Board, and all papers will be presented in English or Te Reo Māori. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.· Workshop proposals must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Scientific Committee; however, presentations during workshops in languages other than English or Te Reo Māori are welcome. A minimum of two presenters is required for workshops. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.Key Deadlines· 5 November 2026: Deadline for potential convenors to submit panel, workshop, roundtable or artistic initiatives· 20 December 2026: Announcement of the accepted proposals (panels, workshops, roundtables and artistic initiatives) & call for papers and performances.· 20 March 2027: Individual abstract submission to accepted panels and general sessions· 5 June 2027: Notification of acceptance of proposals (all formats).· 5 June 2027: Registration opens · 1 August 2027: Closing date for early registrationRegistration· 5 June 2027: Registration opens· 1 August 2027: Early-bird registration closesLink to registration: to be provided soon. Solidarity Fund and Bursaries for Band 3 & 4 CountriesMore information to be provided soon. CALL FOR PANELSPanelsPanels will serve as the cornerstone for structuring the conference programme. Panels are thematic, integrated discussions for 6 to 12 sessions on a clearly identified theme or topic within the larger theme of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”). They should provide attendees with an opportunity to hear presenters engage in dialogue amongst themselves as well as with attendees about cutting-edge research, practice, theory building, and/or policy development.Important: at this stage, you do not need to have a list of speakers or abstracts. Your panel proposal will be assessed by the Scientific Committee. If accepted, your panel will then be posted on the IATIS website and turned into a thematic call for papers open for anyone to submit. Panel convenors will be in charge of reviewing all abstracts submitted to their panel. The members of the scientific committee will review panel convenors’ selection before a notification of acceptance of abstracts can be issued. Timeline for Panels· Submission of panel proposals: 5 November 2026· Announcement of accepted panel proposals: 20 December 2026· Submission to accepted panels: 20 March 2027· Acceptance notification: 1 June 2027 Link to the submission platform: to be provided soon. The following information will be required:· Details about the convenor(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (approx..100 words) and contact address· Details about the proposal: abstract (approx. 500 words)· Optional: Tentative list of speakers and subtopics covered, if any. Please note that even if you have a list of possible speakers, all accepted panels remain open to submissions by interested IATIS delegates See examples of IATIS panels in previous conferences:· Oman Panels 2025· Barcelona Panels 2021· Hong Kong Panels 2018 CALL FOR WORKSHOPS Pre-conference workshops run for a day or half a day on Dec 6 (or Dec 7, subject to enrolment numbers). These workshops are designed to be training sessions on a topic of interest to conference attendees, such as teaching and professional development, with a special emphasis on learning or developing new skills.Timeline for Workshops· Submission of workshop proposals: 5 November 2026· Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026· Workshop Registration: 5 June 2027 CALL FOR ARTISTIC INITIATIVES These initiatives will reflect the cultures of the world. Artistic initiatives come from conference delegates and can be about or across cultures. They should address the topic of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”). Timeline for Artistic Initiatives · Submission of artistic initiative proposals: 5 November 2026· Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026 CALL FOR PAPERS These are individual presentations that form the backbone of the conference's parallel sessions. Researchers can send abstracts to be presented as papers in thematic panels (accepted panels, see above) or independent of any panel in the conference. Papers are given the same amount of time given to panel session papers, and they may be added by the conference scientific committee to an established conference panel, if relevant, and in consultation with the convenor. Timeline for Papers· Call for individual papers: 20 December 2026· Deadline for potential presenters to submit abstracts for papers in and beyond thematic panels: 20 March 2027· Announcement of accepted papers: 1 June 2026 Link to the submission platform: to be provided soon. The following information will be required:· Details about the presenter(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (100 words approx.) and contact address· Abstract (250 words approx.) See examples of IATIS papers in previous conferences· Oman Papers 2025· Barcelona Papers 2021· Hong Kong Papers 2018
Call for Papers:Conference: Breaking Barriers in Creative Translation (BBCT).Venue: Mons, Belgium.Date: 18-20 Nov 2026.Themes and topics: Exploring fictional worldsApplication of new technologies to creative textsTransmedia analysesStylistic analysesAssessment of creativity in translation contextsRendering of humourRetranslationEthics and professional deontologyTranslation under constraintsCreativity and didacticsCognitive issues in creative translationKey dates: Submission: 07/09/2026Notification: 09/10/2026Registration: 01/11/2026Conference: 18-20/11/2026More details: https://bbct.sciencesconf.org/?lang=en
