CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN TRANSLATION AND TRANSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ENGLISH/FRENCH - FRENCH/ENGLISH
CALL FOR PAPERS AND /OR TALKS
The Issue of Discursive Coherence: Translation and Homogenisation
Palimpsestes 26 / Conference: 12-13 October 2012
Recreating the balance of a literary text in translation means that the discursive space be taken into account as a whole and that the issue of homogenisation, which affects any translative process, be addressed. How do we translate texts that are based on a principle of plurality, dispersion or rupture? Does the translative process heighten or lessen such stylistic and narrative traits? What about Lawrence Venuti’s heterogenising approach which is meant to reduce the ethnocentrism prevalent in translation?
On a linguistic level, the contacts between languages in areas and countries where bilingualism prevails could be examined, as could the instances when different age groups or social classes interact. John Lyons’s “fiction of homogeneity” relative to speakers of the same linguistic community could be looked at in relation to the manner in which it manifests itself in translation and in the critique of translation. Moreover, it would also be interesting to test the well-documented principle of homogeneity of the English language, in which, we are told, an inanimate subject and an animate predicate do not fare well together as compared to what takes place in the French language.
On a socio-critical level, the possible editorial reasons behind such textual and stylistic homogenising could be a further matter of investigation. In what ways, for instance, do the audiences and markets aimed at by the publishers or editors commissioning translations influence the process of homogenisation? Does the separation of audiences (young readers, high brow audience, mainstream audience, and so on) lead to retranslations or competing translations of the same texts? What happens when one author’s oeuvre is translated by different translators, both diachronically and synchronically?
Finally, on a socio-historic level, it might be useful to investigate the ways in which translations and transcultural transfers generate a rather homogeneous—or on the contrary heterogeneous—vision of other/foreign cultures.
Proposals (a half-page summary in English or French) plus a short CV should be sent, by 15th April 2012 at the latest to:
Christine Raguet Pascale Sardin
c.raguet@univ-paris3.fr pascale.sardin@univ-paris3.fr
Call for Translations (2026-2027):Journal: Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS) – Translation/Publication Committee In collaboration with JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies The SCMS Translation/Publication Standing Committee welcomes two types of proposals: (1) a single text such as a journal article, book chapter, or self-contained section of a book that focuses on a particular topic in a unified, coherent way, or (2) a group of smaller texts that are linked thematically, regionally, or otherwise.Deadline:Proposals are due by October 23, 2026. Submissions should be sent to the Standing Committee Coordinator (committees@scmstudies.org) and cc: the SCMS Translation/Publication Committee Chair, Catherine Benamou (cbenamou@uci.edu).More details: https://www.cmstudies.org/page/comm_translation
Call for papers:Event: Who Appears After Translation? Authors, Artists, and Transcultural Personas — ACLA 2027American Comparative Literature Association Annual Meeting 2027University of Houston, May 20–23, 2027Organizers: Maya Boutaghou and Song Huang, University of VirginiaPossible topics include, but are not limited to:literary translationself-translationmultilingual writingtranslated authors and authorial personastranslators as mediators of cultural identityperformance circulationadaptationvisual translationartistic and celebrity personasdigital mediadiasporic and postcolonial translationmultilingual subjectivityuntranslatabilitytranscultural mediationtranslation and cultural memorytranslation across literary, visual, and embodied mediaSubmissionPaper proposals must be submitted through the ACLA 2027 online portal.Deadline: September 22, 2026More info: https://www.acla.org/seminar/7a421fda-c5ce-4e42-b382-0d05b579746b
Call for Papers:Event: History and Translation Network Conference 2027 Time : September 20-23, 2027Place: Ghent University, BelgiumPossible topics include:translator branding and authorial visibilitygendered and postcolonial invisibilityarchival recovery of neglected translators and mediatorstranslation and mechanisms of canonisationthe historical circulation of texts in manuscript, print, and digital culturesthe materiality of texts, media ecosystems, and publishing networkscensorship, patronage, cultural diplomacy, and cultural policytranslation as labour, profession, and economic practicereaders, reception, and communities of interpretationtranslation and media(tion)the shifting boundaries between human and non-human mediationsocial, intellectual, institutional, and communication networksdigital humanities approaches, network analysis, corpus studies, and archival methodologiesPaper submission deadline: 1 February 2027More info: https://htn2027.ugent.be/en
Call for Papers:International Conference: Translating Sacred Texts: Dimensions, Challenges, and Contemporary Perspectives Date: December 03, 2026Format: In-PersonVenue: Faculty of Arabic Language, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, MoroccoSubmission Guidelines• Abstract: 250–300 words, accompanied by a short biographical note. • Keywords: 4–6 keywords. • Conference Language: English. • Submission Email: sacredtexttranslation@gmail.com• Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026. Read more: https://sites.google.com/uca.ac.ma/sacredtextconference/accueil
Call for Papers Journal: Translation Spaces 18 (1) 2029Theme: Translating the city, curating the museum: city museums as translation zonesGuest editors: Anneleen Spiessens (Ghent University) and Luc van Doorslaer (University of Tartu/KU Leuven)Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:· conceptual convergences between city translation and museum translation· methodological approaches for studying translation in urban or museum contexts· the position of city museums within the broader translational framework of multilayered urban memoryscapes· the role of translation in unlocking multilingual collections· the symbolic and political dimension of language policies in city museums· the role of translation in diversifying museum audiences and fostering sustainable communities· the interplay of interlingual, intralingual, intersemiotic and intrasemiotic translation in exhibition contextsSubmissionAbstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted by 15 September to the guest editors by email (anneleen.spiessens@ugent.be and luc.vandoorslaer@ut.ee).Key dates:15 September 2026: abstract (300 words) and bionote (100 words) submissionIn the course of 2028: online first publication of individual articlesSpring 2029: print publicationMore information: https://benjamins.com/series/ts/call-for-papers-ts.2029.pdf
