Calls for papers

In 2021 the 13th meeting of the international Symposium on (Im)Politeness and the 7th meeting of the biannual iMean  (interaction and meaning)  conference will be merged for a meeting on the “pragmatics of translation” on 24-26 June, 2021. We hope that you will hold the dates and be able to join us. We will invite papers on translation outcomes and processes which highlight a pragmatic angle of understanding the transfer of language phenomena across cultures and intra-culturally. We approach translation from a broad perspective, including written textual translation from source to target language as well as other modalities such as signing, simultaneous translation or audiovisual translation by professional and lay people. We also include topics such as explaining meaning to each other or translating sensual experience into language. We hope that many people will address both (im)politeness/delicacy as well as translation issues within an interactional/pragmatics frame. However, in the tradition of both the symposium of politeness and i-mean, we also welcome papers on (im)politeness and interactional meaning more generally. Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2020 For more information, click here

THE COMPLEXITY OF SOCIAL-CULTURAL EMERGENCE: BIOSEMIOTICS, SEMIOTICS AND TRANSLATION STUDIES Since the emergence of complexity thinking, scholars from the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities are renewing efforts to construct a unified framework that would unite all scholarly activity. The work of Terrence Deacon (2013), at the interface of (at least) physics, chemistry, biology, neurology, cognitive science, semiotics, anthropology and philosophy, is a great, though not the only, example of this kind of work. It is becoming clear that this paradigm of complex relational and process thinking means, among others, that the relationships between fields of study are more important than the differences between them. Deacon’s contribution, for instance, lies not (only) in original findings in any of the fields in which he works but (also) in the ways in which he relates bodies of knowledge to one another. An example would be his links between a theory of work (physics) and a theory of information (cybernetics) by means of a theory of meaning (semiotics). This line of thinking indeed situates semiotics and biosemiotics in the centre of the abovementioned debate (also see Hoffmeyer, 2008; Kauffman, 2012). In semiotics, Susan Petrilli’s (2003) thought-provoking collection covers a wide variety of chapters focused on translation, which she conceptualizes as semiotic process. Her work made it possible to link biosemiotics and semiotics through the notion of “translation”, which is what we aim to explore further in this conference. Michael Cronin’s work in translation studies links up with the above through his use of the notion of “ecology”. To apprehend interconnectedness and vulnerability in the age of the Anthropocene, his work challenges text-oriented and linear approaches while engaging in eco-translational thinking. He calls tradosphere all translation systems on the planet, all the ways in which information circulates between living and non-living organisms and is translated into a language or a code that can be processed or understood by the receiving entity (Cronin, 2017, p. 71).  The aptness of Cronin’s work on ecology finds a partner in that of Bruno Latour, whose development of a sociology of translation (2005) responds to the need to reconnect the social and natural worlds and to account for the multiple connections that make what he calls the ‘social’. In an effort further to work out the implications of this new way of thinking, Marais (2019, p. 120) conceptualized translation in terms of “negentropic semiotic work performed by the application of constraints on the semiotic process” (see also Kress 2013). Building on Peirce, namely that the meaning of a sign is its translation into another sign, translation is defined as a process that entails semiotic work done by constraining semiotic possibilities. This conceptualization allows for the study of all forms of meaning-making, i.e. translation, under a single conceptual framework, but it also allows for a unified ecological view for both the sciences and the humanities. “The long standing distinction between the human and social sciences and the natural and physical sciences is no longer tenable in a world where we cannot remain indifferent to the more than human” (Cronin, 2017, p. 3). These kind of approaches open ample possibilities for a dialogue between Translation Studies, Semiotics and Biosemiotics, exploring translation not only in linguistic and anthropocentric terms, but as a semiotic process that can take place in and between all (living) organisms – human and non-human organic and inorganic, material and immaterial alike. Not only the translation of Hamlet into French, or of oral speech into subtitles, but also communication between dolphins or between a dog and its master, or moving a statue from one place to another, or rewatching a film are translation processes. However, many of the implications of this line of thinking still need to be explored, and if the references to Deacon, Petrilli and Cronin holds, this should be done in an interdisciplinary way that tests, transgresses and transforms scholarly boundaries. It is for this reason that we call for papers for a conference in which we hope to draw together biosemioticians, semioticians and translation studies scholars to discuss the interdisciplinary relations between these fields and the implications of these relations for the study of social and cultural reality as emerging from both matter and mind. We invite colleagues to submit either theoretical or data-driven or mixed proposals, reflecting on the complexity of social-cultural emergence as a translation process. Some of the topics that colleagues could consider would be the following: Is translation, as semiotic work and process, indeed able to link all of the biological world, including humans, with the non-living world in one ecology, and if so how? What conceptual constructs in each of the three fields are relevant for the other fields, and how? Could the fields learn methodological and epistemological lessons from one another? If so, what would these entail? Could collaborative scholarship enhance an understanding of social-cultural emergence, and if so, what would this scholarship entail? How, if at all, does entropy and negentropy play out differently in social-cultural systems compared to biological and/or physical systems? How does social-cultural emergence differ from biological and even physical emergence? Systems thinking tends to ignore differences like the intentionality of biological agents in contrast to physical agents. Thus, if one were to consider the possibility that intention has causal effect, how does one factor intention into thinking about complex adaptive systems? We plan an interactive conference. Firstly, we invited three keynote speakers, one from each of the fields involved, to give their views on the relationships between these three fields. Secondly, apart from the normal responses to papers, we would like to end each day of the conference with a session (about one hour) in which the keynote speakers reflect, round-table style, on the papers of the day and in which participants have the opportunity to engage them and one another in open debate style. Confirmed keynote speakers: Biosemiotics – Terrence Deacon (University of California, Berkeley) Semiotics – Frederik Stjernfelt (Aalborg University, Copenhagen) Translation studies – Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin) Conference date: 26-28 August 2021 Place: KU Leuven, Belgium Deadlines Submission of abstracts – 1 December 2021 Notification of acceptance – 1 February 2021 Registration opens – 1 March 2021 Registration closes – 15 July 2021 Please e-mail enquiries and abstracts of around 300 words to one of the following addresses: jmarais@ufs.ac.za. gonne@unamur.be meylaerts@kuleuven.be References Cronin, M., 2017. Eco-translation: Translation and ecology in the age of the anthropocene. New York: Routledge. Deacon, T. W., 2013. Incomplete nature: How mind emerged from matter. New York: WW Norman & Company. Hoffmeyer, J., 2008. Biosemiotics: An examination into the signs of life and the life of signs. London: University of Scranton Press. Kauffman, S., 2012. From physics to semiotics. In: S. Rattasepp & T. Bennet, eds. Biosemiotic gatherings. Tartu: University of Tartu Press, pp. 30-46. Kress, G., 2013. Multimodal discourse analysis. In: J. P. Gee & M. Handford, eds. The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis. New York: Routledge, pp. 35-50. Latour, B., 2005. Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Marais, K., 2019. A (bio)semiotic theory of translation: The emergence of social-cultural reality. New York: Routledge. Petrilli, S., ed., 2003. Translation Translation. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Call for Papers   Tentative title: Humour and Self-Translation    Editors: Margherita Dore and Giacinto Palmieri The volume aims to explore the self-translation of humour. Generally speaking, self-translation is described as a type of translation in which the translators happen to be the same people as the authors of the source text. It represents an atypical case which, as such, was somewhat neglected by Translation Studies scholars. More recently, however, self-translation has attracted a good deal of attention, as demonstrated by Gentes’s (2020) 212-page bibliography on this topic. Notwithstanding this, the self-translation of humour appears to be a remarkable blind spot. A text search for the word “humour” in the aforementioned bibliography returns only one match (Noonan 2013), searching for “humor” returns one more (Palmieri 2017a), while “comedy” returns three (Palmieri 2017a; Palmieri 2017b; Sebellin 2009; Palmieri 2018) and “comic” returns only one (Cohn 1961).  Another aspect that makes the research gap on humour self-translation so remarkable is that the translation of humour in general has also been the object of much attention, not least because it offers a wide range of challenges, spanning from dealing with wordplay to the importance of culture-specific references (Chiaro 1992, 2005; Zabalbeascoa 1996; Attardo 2002; Dore 2019). Moreover, the success or failure in humour translation is often constrained by the translation mode used (cf. for instance Zabalbascoa 1994; Dore 2019; Dore, forthcoming). Interestingly, many authors who have written on self-translation (e.g. Fitch 1988; Eco 2013) have stressed that self-translators enjoy a level of freedom greater than that allowed to allographic translators. Similarly, the challenging nature of humour translation makes the case of self-translation the more interesting and intriguing, as it often requires exercising great freedom in adapting the humours content to the target audience (as discussed, with reference to stand-up comedy, in Palmieri 2018). Therefore, observing specific cases of humour self-translation is likely to unveil specific characteristics of this process in different context (cf. e.g. Palmieri 2018) and of humour translation in general. It is envisaged that the exploration of this fascinating phenomenon will further contribute to enhance the ongoing debate on the (un)translatability of humour (Delabastita 1996; 1997; Chiaro 2000; Dore 2019). Since the self-translation of humour can potentially cover several fields of enquire and application, as well as genres, an edited book can become a particularly promising tool. With these premises in mind, we would like to launch a Call for Papers to encourage scholars to give a contribution to mapping this problem space, by identifying instances of humour self-translation in their specific areas of competence, both in terms of language(s) and medium/ text type.    The papers will be peer-reviewed. Authors will be asked to send their contributions to both Margherita Dore (margherita.dore@uniroma1.it) and Giacinto Palmieri (g.palmieri@londonmet.ac.uk).   Timeline  15 July 2020 – Abstracts (300 words) Notification of acceptance: 31/07/2020 End of January 2021 – Manuscripts of chapters (up to 8,000 words) End of March 2021 – Feedback from editors/external readers End of May 2021 – Final manuscripts Length of contributions: 8.000 words Please use British spelling. References Attardo, Salvatore (2002) ‘Translation and Humour: An Approach Based on the General Theory of Verbal Humour’, The Translator 8(2): 173-194.  Chiaro, Delia (1992) The Language of Jokes. Analysing Verbal Play, London and New York, Routledge. Chiaro, Delia (2000) ‘"Servizio completo"? On the (un)translatability of puns on screen’. In Bollettieri Bosinelli, R. M., Heiss, C., Soffritti, M. and Bernardini, S. (eds.) La traduzione multimediale: Quale traduzione per quale testo?,Bologna: CLUEB, 27-        42. Chiaro, Delia (2004) ‘Investigating the perception of translated Verbally Expressed Humour on Italian TV’, ESP Across Cultures, 1: 35-52. Chiaro, Delia (2005) ‘Foreword: Verbally Expressed Humour and Translation: An overview of a neglected field’. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 18 (2): 135–145. Cohn, Ruby (1961) ‘Samuel Beckett Self–Translator’, PMLA 76: 613–621.  Delabastita, Dirk (1996) ‘Introduction’, The Translator 2(2): 127-139. Delabastita, Dirk (1997) ‘Introduction’. In D. Delabastita (ed.) Traductio: Essays on Punning and Translation. Special Issue of Target 12(1):161-166. Dore, Margherita (2019) Humour in Audiovisual Translation. Theories and Applications. New York and London: Routledge.  Dore, Margherita (Forthcoming, ed.) Humour Translation in the Age of Multimedia. New York and London: Routledge. Eco, Umberto (2013) ‘Come se si scrivessero due libri diversi [As if you wrote two different books]’ In A. Ceccherelli, G. E. Imposti, & M. Perotto (eds.), Autotraduzione e riscrittura [Self-translation and rewriting], Bologna: Bononia University Press, 25–30. Fitch, Brian T. (1988) Beckett and Babel: an investigation into the status of the bilingual work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Gentes, Eva (2020) Bibliography: autotraduzione/autotraducción/self-translation. URL https://app.box.com/s/iux0u31earrvgi5n3l32jev65i5a593e Noonan, Will. 2013. ‘Self-translation, Self-reflection, Self-derision: Samuel Beckett’s Bilingual Humour’. In A. Cordingley (ed.), Self-Translation: Brokering Originality in Hybrid Culture. London: Continuum, 159–176 Palmieri, Giacinto (2017a) ‘Oral self-translation of stand-up comedy and its (mental) text: a theoretical model”. Humor. International journal of humor studies, 30/2, 193–210. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2016-0092  Palmieri, Giacinto (2017b). “Self-translation and orality: the case of stand-up comedy”. Perspectives. Studies in translation theory and practice, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2017.1351457  Palmieri, Giacinto (2018) Oral self-translation of stand-up comedy: from the mental text to performance and interaction. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Surrey. Sebellin, Rossana M. (2009) ‘Bilingualism and Bi-textuality: Samuel Beckett’s Double Texts’. In D. Guardamagna and R. M. Sebellin (eds.), The Tragic Comedy of Samuel Beckett “Beckett in Rome” 17–19 April 2008. Università degli Studi di Roma. Editori Laterza, 39–56. Zabalbeascoa, Patrick (1994) ‘Factors in dubbing television comedy’, Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 2 (1): 89-99.

We are happy to announce that the Third WITTA (World Interpreter and Translator Training Association) Congress will be held at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore on October 2-5, 2020. The working languages for the Congress are English and Chinese. Open to all, the Congress is intended to create a common space for reflection on issues related to translation and interpreting education.  Topics We invite papers related but not limited to the following areas: T&I development in relation to bilingual development T&I competence in relation to bilingual competence Translation education and bilingual policies Methods, approaches, and innovations in T&I and bilingual teaching Curriculum development of T&I degree and training programmes Curriculum and teaching material development Translation trainer education and development Quality assessment of translation and bilingual education Technologies in T&I and bilingual education Continuing education in T&I and institutional support Simultaneous machine interpreting Machine translation and machine-aided translation Reality-integrated translation education Low-resource construction of language corpora Deadline for submissions: 31 May For more information, click here

The International Conference on Cognitive Research on Translation and Interpreting (ICCRTI) started in 2014 at the Centre for Studies of Translation, Interpreting and Cognition (CSTIC), University of Macau. Since then, six conferences have been held at the University of Macau (2014-2016), Beijing Foreign Studies University (2017), Renmin University of China (2018) and Southwest University (2019). The conference has become an international forum for the presentation and discussion of up-to-date cognitive research on translation and interpreting.The 7th International Conference on Cognitive Research on Translation and Interpreting will be held on 18-20 September 2020 at Durham University, UK. This conference will focus on Emerging Topics in Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies. Papers presented at the conference will be selected through peer review process to be published in a special issue of Translation Quarterly or a book of Springer’s New Frontiers of Translation Studies series. Deadline for submissions: 15 June 2020 For more information, click here

This special issue aims to present the most up-to-date research and developing trends within Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS). The editors welcome contributions that explore cognitive theoretical models of translation/interpreting, empirically investigate cognitive aspects of translation or interpreting, or critically engage with the philosophical foundations of Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS). Possible topics include (but are not limited to):  translation/interpreting production or reception  cognitive aspects of translator/interpreter behavior  human-machine interaction/collaboration in translation/interpreting  translation competence and/or translation expertise  situated translation/interpreting  cognitive aspects of translator/interpreter training Deadline for abstract submissions: 15 May 2020 For more information, click here 

Translators, when not getting any press tend to get bad press, and the translation profession itself appears to be suffering an existential crisis (low play, status and uncertain future). However, this is not the full picture. The proposed issue intends to bring together practical applications of “translation plus”, where the translator (interpreter) is an essential collaborator working with (as much as for) the author, commissioner or any other actor in the process. We are looking for case studies, situations, where the translator (in the widest sense of the term) is not “just the translator”, and is listened to rather than simply ‘used’. For example, Romero Fresco (2013) introduced the idea of the audiovisual translator as an integral part of “universal design” in filmmaking and translation, while Jemielity talks of his experience as the translator becoming essential to corporate marketing strategy. In both cases, the translator’s particular skills add recognized value to the process and to the product. Deadline for abstracts: 30 May For more information, click here

We welcome contributions from translators or scholars working in Translation Studies, Religious Studies, Gender Studies, Feminist Studies, Literary and Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Anthropology, and other relevant disciplines, on women translators of texts from all religions. We are interested in women’s participation in the translation of holy texts but also other types of religious writings, such as liturgical texts, exegeses, commentaries, patristic texts, lives of religious figures, and popular pious literature. Some of the issues which could make the object of discussion are:  reasons for women to translate or retranslate a religious text;  retracing and rediscovering the history of women’s involvement in the translation of religious texts;  women’s experiences of translating, editing and publishing sacred texts;  feminist influences, relations, and impact on women’s translations of religious texts;  marketing, publication, and reception of translation by women;  challenges that women translators of sacred texts face: censorship, power dynamics, the question of authority;  linguistic, textual, and translation strategies employed by women translators of sacred texts, including the question of gender-inclusive and neutral language;  comparisons between the experiences of women translating texts from different religions and working in different parts of the world and periods;  collaborative translation experiences (female-female teams, male-female teams of translators) and what they reveal;  the body of the translator, the body in religious translation;  women translators of religious texts and the advent of contemporary media. Deadline for submissions: 15 November 2020 For more information, click here

This special issue aims to present the most up-to-date research and developing trends within Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS). The editors welcome contributions that explore cognitive theoretical models of translation/interpreting, empirically investigate cognitive aspects of translation or interpreting, or critically engage with the philosophical foundations of Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS). Possible topics include (but are not limited to): translation/interpreting production or reception cognitive aspects of translator/interpreter behavior human-machine interaction/collaboration in translation/interpreting translation competence and/or translation expertise situated translation/interpreting cognitive aspects of translator/interpreter training We are interested in all areas of CTIS, and the aim is to provide a snapshot of cutting-edge research in this rapidly growing and conceptually expanding area. Important Dates Please submit an abstract of approximately 500 words including the title, references (not included in the word count), author’s names, affiliations and contacts to both Dr. Kairong Xiao (kairongxiao@163.com) and Prof. Sandra L. Halverson (sandra.l.halverson@uia.no). Deadline for abstract submission: 15 May 2020. Acceptance of abstracts: 1 June 2020 Submission of full papers: 1 October 2020 Acceptance of papers: 1 December 2020 Submission of final versions of papers: 1 March 2021 Publication: July/ August 2021. Information for authors Please submit abstracts to both of the guest-editors for reviewing at your earliest convenience, and no later than the stipulated deadline. Papers are to be no longer than 8000 words, including references. Draft papers are to be submitted online (https://www.editorialmanager.com/cogls/Default.aspx). Please refer to the INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS and other guidelines on the journal website for format and style guide. Non-native English authors are required to have the paper proof-read by native speakers of English before submitting. About Cognitive Linguistic Studies Cognitive Linguistic Studies is an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary journal of cognitive linguistics, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience. It explores implications from and for psycholinguistic, computational, neuroscientific, cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research. Cognitive Linguistic Studies provides a forum for high-quality linguistic research on topics which investigate the interaction between language and human cognition. It offers new insights not only into linguistic phenomena but also into a wide variety of social, psychological, and cultural phenomena. The journal welcomes authoritative, innovative cognitive scholarship from all viewpoints and practices. Cognitive Linguistic Studies is published biannually by John Benjamins since 2014. It is indexed in: CNKI, ERIH PLUS, Glottolog, IBR/IBZ, Linguistics Abstracts Online, MLA International Bibliography, etc.

Studying the history of translation is a practice taking place in the present – a present trying to understand itself by looking at its past. In order to facilitate this understanding, Chronotopos introduces a new section: On a regular basis, Chronotopos will include thematic foci in its issues that bring together papers on a specific topic related to the history of translation and interpreting. This way, Chronotopos can function as a discursive hub and create reference points for future projects. Since 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the first focus will be on the relationship between translation and World War II. Chronotopos asks all interested authors for contributions dealing with this relationship in one way or another. Possible questions include, but are not limited to: - What role did translation and interpreting play during events related to World War II? - In what way did translation contribute to the rise and spread of National Socialist ideology? And how did translation contribute to resistance movements? - What specific methodological problems arise when doing research on this topic? - What meta language is appropriate? Are typical metaphors for translation (e. g. bridgebuilding) an option for this context? How do we deal with categories such as “Jew/Jewish”, if their use by the Nazis has produced the historical realities we want to study? - How are the events and experiences of World War II related to the emergence of translation studies as an academic discipline? Deadline for informal announcement of intention: 30 April 2020 For more information, click here

This issue is intended to be a self-reflexive research work that looks back and forward upon corpus-based translation studies (CTS). Similarly to other publications in the field (e.g. Laviosa 1998; Laviosa 2002; Olohan 2004; Kruger et al. 2011), looking back brings us to at least 1993, when Mona Baker (1993: 235) officially envisaged a turning point in the history of the discipline. Baker was not the first person to undertake corpus-based research (see, for example, Gellerstam 1986; Lindquist 1989), but she was undoubtedly the scholar who most forcefully predicted what the future had in store. And her premonitions were realized in virtually no time. Research has grown exponentially from 1993 onwards in the very aspects Baker had anticipated (corpora, methods and tools). We believe it is time we pause and reflect (critically) upon our research domain. And we want to do so in what we see is a relatively innovative way: by importing Taylor & Marchi’s (2018) spirit from corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) into CTS. Like them, we want to place our emphasis precisely on the faulty areas within our studies. We aim to deal with the issues we have left undone; or those we have neglected. In short, and drawing on Taylor & Marchi’s (2008) work, we propose to devote this volume to revisiting our own partiality and cleaning some of our dustiest corners. Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2020 For more information, click here

The International Federation of Translators (FIT) and the Asociación Cubana de Traductores e Intérpretes (ACTI), as the hosting organisation, are pleased to announce the XXII FIT World Congress, to be held from 3 to 5 December 2020, in Varadero, Cuba. The work of language professionals can often be undervalued and unseen, even though their contribution makes it possible for us to enjoy the benefits of scientific and technological progress, facilitates vital aid in conflicts and disasters, and opens doors on new cultures. By removing linguistic and cultural barriers, they foster equality of access, interlingual and intercultural dialogue. Translation, interpreting and terminology, underpin the human rights and fundamental freedoms, crucial to sustainable development, inclusive governance, peace and social equity. They are vital for creating sustainable and desirable futures. The pivotal role that professional practitioners play in securing understanding among nations, ensuring cultural diversity and protecting human rights needs to be highlighted. Join us for the first time in Latin America, to debate and discuss around the broad theme of A World without Barriers: The Role of Language Professionals in Building Culture, Understanding and Lasting Peace. Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2020 For more information, click here