Calls for papers

The 28 biennial ASAUK conference (8-10 September 2020) at Cardiff University will feature the thematic panel The concept of translation in Africa: challenging Translation and Interpreting Studies. The stream will provide a space where translation and interpreting studies scholars exploring the African context can meet and discuss their research, present their findings, interact and learn from each other. Additionally, the conference will be an opportunity to showcase current research in translation and interpreting studies in an interdisciplinary context. The stream aims at placing TIS research in the wider African Studies sphere. Deadline for submissions: 22 March 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. Regarding partiality, Taylor & Marchi (2018: 8) argue that “[u]nderstandably, most people just get on with the task of doing their research rather than discussing what didn’t work and how they balanced it.” Going back to our previous research, identifying some of its pitfalls, and having another go at what did not work is a second chance we believe we deserve. Looking at our object of study from different viewpoints or within new joined efforts, plunging into (relatively) new practices, such as CTS triangulation (see Malamatidou 2017), may be one of the ways in which we can now contribute to going back to post-modernity; and do things differently. As to dusty corners (“both the neglected aspects of analysis and under-researched topics and text types”, Taylor & Marchi 2018: 9), like Taylor (2018) we need further work on (translated) absence; similarities (as well as differences); silent voices, non-dominant languages, amongst many other concerns. The present CFP, then, is interested in theoretical, descriptive, applied and critical papers (from CTS and external fields) that make a contribution to tackling CTS partiality and dusty spots of any kind. We particularly (but not only) welcome papers including: critical evaluation of one’s own work awareness of (old/new) research design issues use of new protocols and tools to examine corpora identification of areas where accountability is required and methods to guarantee accountability cases of triangulation of all kinds studies of absences in originals and/or translations studies of new voices, minoritised (and non-named) languages, multimodal texts, etc. pro-active proposals to bring CTS forward Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2020 For more information, click here

Conference in Lisbon, 18 - 20 June 2020. Call extended to 31st March https://picbookseducation.wordpress.com/

Deadline for submissions approaching: Following the 1st International Conference on Intersemiotic Translation, held in November 2017 at the University of Cyprus, this conference aims to address the theoretical and practical challenges that the shift away from the logocentric to increasingly intersemiotic, intermedial and transmedial culture poses for the relevant fields, which are consequently forced to reexamine their concepts, methods as well as objects of study. Concurrently with the developments that have led many disciplines (translation studies, adaptation studies, intermediality studies, semiotics, among others) to look at processes and products that cross media borders, we have also witnessed the appearance of a plethora of concepts describing such phenomena: from rewritings and refractions to intermedial translations, adaptations and appropriations to remediations, transmediations, transformations, transcreations, and (medial) transgressions, to name but a few. All these terms acknowledge the radical transformations that can occur when texts produce offshoots that transgress the borders of the language, genre, medium or platform of the original text. Recognizing that all terms have their different backgrounds and sometimes conflicting usages, this conference has chosen as one of its key terms the notion of ‘transmedia’ – not necessarily in any one of its specialised senses as used, for instance, by Henry Jenkins in the context of transmedia storytelling or by Peeter Torop and Maarja Ojamaa, who regard transmediality as the complex interrelations between texts in the mental space of culture – but rather as an umbrella term. We foreground ‘transmedia’– with its prefix trans- meaning ‘across’, ‘beyond’, ‘through’ – as a marker to highlight the ubiquitous processes and phenomena of media crossovers that share some common features (such as fictional world, character, plot). It is our understanding that with such high concentration of transmedial practices and concepts currently underway in culture and in academia, the time is ripe to see this as a general ‘turn’ not to be ignored. Although related to the ‘technological turn’ of the 2000s in translation studies as described by Michael Cronin, the ‘transmedial turn’ goes beyond the technological one: while the latter is defined by the changes in technology, the term ‘transmediality’ foregrounds a major operational logic of culture that has become especially explicit in this era of new media developments. At the same time, the notion of transmediality can shed light and contribute to the study of the respective practices of the past prior to the more recent technological changes. The aim of this conference is to look at the various transmedial practices historically and in comparison with the changes that have taken place during the last decades as a result of an explosive surge in intermedial and transmedial practices. The discussion will seek to investigate potential ways to account for these changes theoretically and map the implications they might have on the level of practice. The conference intends to bring together scholars from various disciplines, which over the recent years have moved extensively beyond their traditional borders in terms of both their study objects and their approaches. We hope that such a joint effort will offer valuable insights to the conceptualisations of transmedial practices across different cultural contexts at different points in time and bridge theoretical as well as methodological gaps. We would like to open up the discussion on the following: - The movement of texts across different times and different media: from intertextuality to intermediality, from intermediality to transmediality;  - The analysis and mapping of transmedial processes and products; - Transmedial practices in translation and adaptation history; - Theoretical models and methods to account for transmedial phenomena across disciplines; - The potential to find common ground on terminology in media-centred discourses across disciplines; - The concepts of ‘translation’ and ‘adaptation’ revisited in the framework of transmediality; - Translators, adaptors, refractors: the network of agents involved in the production of transmedia; - Transmedial entanglements of literature, theatre, film etc. and their influence on the conceptualisation and practice of translation and adaptation; - Changes in the distinction between professional/non-professional and individual/ collective in transmedial practices; - Power relations and ethics in transmedial practices.   1 March 2020: Deadline for presentation proposals -> DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 15 March The contact email for any further information is transmedia@ut.ee For more information, click here

Within a heritage context, interpretation is understood as ‘an educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by first-hand experience, and by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information’ (Tilden 1957, p.8). As such, heritage interpretation is geared towards engaging a diverse range of visitors on a cognitive and emotional level in ways that enhance their experience of a given site, whether built or natural. And yet, despite a shared interest in questions of meaning-making, multimodality, and communication across time and across different target groups, dialogue between Heritage Studies and Translation & Interpreting Studies has been surprisingly limited. Research into interlingual and intersemiotic museum translation has been burgeoning in recent years, alongside work on museum accessibility through sign language interpreting, audio description and subtitling. But there remains much potential to strengthen, expand and better coordinate these interdisciplinary points of contact. Similarly, there has been little opportunity for professionals and stakeholders working in and with heritage, translation, interpreting and accessibility to have a multilateral conversation about their respective challenges and visions for the future. The aim of this conference is thus to bring together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and other interested parties, and facilitate a meaningful exploration of heritage translation, in all its forms. In particular, we seek to gain a fuller understanding of how and to what (pedagogical, ideological etc.) effect heritage is mediated, where are the gaps in knowledge and practice around heritage translation commissioning and evaluation, and what are the priorities for future research and training.  We welcome 20 min papers that address issues of heritage translation (understood broadly) from theoretical, empirical, exploratory and/or practical perspectives.  Deadline for submissions: 27 March 2020 For more information, click here

In commercial contexts, mainstream localization decisions have traditionally targeted markets where a short-term return on investment will offset the localization costs (Exton et al. 2010, 81), whereas, in contexts where social, cultural, or political motivations are more important than the commercial return on investment, localization decisions may instead prioritize the dissemination of information as widely as possible, or specifically to those without access to the knowledge (Ibid; Anastasiou and Schäler 2010). More recently, the term localization has come into use by international aid organizations for their humanitarian practice to refer to the deployment of local resources such as local agents and local response models (Folaron 2019, 204). With such a wide range of contexts in which localization concepts are applied and decisions are made, it seems timely to call for papers examining localization practices around the world across different sectors.  This special issue of the Journal of Internationalization and Localization (JIAL) therefore aims to bring into cognisance previously less recognised locale-specific issues, emerging trends or research projects (including publicly funded research programmes and PhD research) as well as types of localization undertaken and localization tools used or under development. We are particularly interested in localization in linguistic, social and cultural contexts from regions that have been under-represented in the journal thus far, such as Africa, Middle East, South and South East Asia, Australasia, Eastern Europe, and South and Central America, encompassing minority and indigenous languages. The suggested topics include, but are not limited to: -Socio-political and ideological issues in localization decision-making -Localization strategies used by different industry groups or humanitarian organizations -Localization involving minority or indigenous languages -Emerging trends in shaping localization processes and tools -Machine learning and AI applications in localization -Non-professional translation in localization To help bridge the gap between localization practice and theory representing different regions of the world, we invite both industry professionals and scholars working in academia to submit unpublished, original 6,000-8,000-word articles. Given the quickly changing industry, the special issue will be published expediently, in late 2020, as a double issue: Volume 7, Issues 1 and 2.   Submission deadlines:  Abstracts (500 words): March 15, 2020 Notification to authors: March 31, 2020 Full papers: June 1, 2020 Revised papers due (following peer review): August 15, 2020 Publication: December 2020 Inquiries and abstracts should be addressed to the journal’s co-editors: Minako O’Hagan (University of Auckland, New Zealand) minako.ohagan@auckland.ac.nzJulie McDonough Dolmaya (York University, Canada) dolmaya@glendon.yorku.caReferences: Anastasiou, Dimitra, and Reinhard Schäler. n.d. “Translating Vital Information: Localisation, Internationalisation, Globalisation.” Syn-Thèses 3: 11–25. Exton, Chris, Asanka Wasala, Jim Buckley, and Reinhard Schäler. 2010. “Micro Crowdsourcing: A New Model for Software Localization.” Localisation Focus 8 (1): 81–89. Folaron, Debbie. 2019. “Technology, Technical Translation and Localization” in O’Hagan, M (ed) The  Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 203-219   https://benjamins.com/series/jial/callforpapers.pdf

The Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies serves as a forum that exhibits the robust relationship between translation studies and other academic disciplines and professional fields. This conference brings together graduate students and early-career postdoctoral researchers united by a common interest in translation and interpreting. This year, we welcome abstracts and panel proposals related to the topics of ethics and justice, pertaining to any subfield of translation and interpreting studies, including literary, technical, and legal translation; theory and practice of interpretation; translation history; and translation and interpreting technology. Possible themes include (but are not limited to): interpretation and migrant justice; the ethics and ideological implications of translation choices (both in terms of what we translate and how we go about it); translation as activism; translators’ and interpreters’ agency; community interpretation, family interpretation, and other pro bono modes of interpreting; ethics of medical interpreting; ethical and economic impact of machine translation; corporate translation and accountability; considerations relating to subjectivity, cultural difference, and collective identity; translation pedagogy; access to translation and interpreting services; politics of literary translation; publishing and visibility; gendered disparities in the profession; and so forth. We welcome comparative studies, case studies, corpus studies, argumentative essays, and any other methodology relevant to translation and interpreting studies. Deadline for submissions: 1 February 2020 For more information, click here

The second edition of the UMAQ conference seeks to explore the ways in which the different stakeholders involved in the MA/AVT value chain (such as researchers, industry, policy-makers and organisations of end-users) tackle the pressing and complex issue of quality. The conference will be followed by a free multiplier event of the EASIT project on 18 September afternoon. Information about the multiplier event will be provided at a later stage. Possible topics of interestWithin the context of Media Accessibility and Audiovisual Translation, possible topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Theoretical issues and the theoretical foundation of quality Quality issues in specific modalities: dubbing, respeaking, subtitling, audio description, etc. Quality in standards, guidelines and regulations The human factor in the definition and assessment of quality Quality in/and technology: machine translation, automatic subtitles, automatic audio description, clean audio, technologies for access services, etc. The role of MA/AVT stakeholders (industry, end-users, regulators, etc.) in the definition and evaluation of quality Quality issues in live events, museums, videogames, immersive environments, etc. Quality and reception studies Metrics for measuring quality One-size-fits-all approaches versus context-dependent approaches to quality Interdisciplinary approaches to quality Intersectionality in the definition and assessment of quality Pedagogical issues: quality in education and training, the role of education and training in current and future accounts of quality, the need for and role of new professional profiles and their potential impact on quality issues in AVT/MA Quality issues in relation to different end users’ groups: children, younger adults, the elderly, migrants, persons with disabilities, etc. Deadline for submissions: 15 April 2020 For more information, click here

Language and law are two intertwined areas of study whose connections are still opening new windows across disciplines. With the objective of enhancing an interdisciplinary reflection among researchers and practitioners in these domains, Jurilinguistics III: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Language and Law will foreground the applications of jurilinguistic approaches to the analysis of law and language. This conference will gather professionals in both fields who are interested in discovering the linguistic nature of legal (including political and sociolegal) challenges, and the legal implications of (new) multilingualism(s). We will promote a closer understanding among professionals and researchers in legal disciplines of the work done by linguists and translators, against the background of the increased interest for their tools and insights into the scientific study of languages among lawyers. On the grounds of increasing collaborations between of language and law professionals and researchers, bilingual and multilingual programmes in international law are being implemented, linguists and translators increase their demands for specialized legal training, corpus linguistic tools are being used in the legal interpretation of jurisprudence, growing cooperation among societies triggers the creation of supranational structures, legal relationships become globalized… New fields for both language and law are emerging as societies develop new ties and needs across the globe, demanding cross-disciplinary research designs, new tenets and increasingly complex methods. The symposium Jurilinguistics III: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Language and Law aims to provide a meeting point for professionals and researchers interested in the intersection of language and law from different disciplines, including translation and interpreting studies, sociology, anthropology, criminology and, indeed, law and linguistics. The purpose is not only to identify progress and key insights into this hybrid field, but also to explore new areas of study and/or research.  Deadline for submissions: 1 March 2020 For more information, click here

We invite proposals for papers on the topic of the conference from the field of education and translation and representing a variety of contexts i.e. multilingual, first, second and foreign language contexts, library environments, professional settings or NGO contexts. We hope to attract proposals that contribute to our understanding of the following: ProposalsContributions to the conference are welcome in the form of:A) Oral presentations (20 min + 10 min discussion). Proposals should be prepared in a word document and should include:• Full name(s) of presenter(s) and affiliation(s)• A 250-word abstract with a maximum of three references. • Bio sketch of 100 words B) Panels for three or four presentations (60 min + 30 min discussion)• Full name and affiliation of the panel coordinator • Full names and affiliations of presenters• A 200-word introduction to the panel, together with the 250-word abstracts and a 100-word bio sketch from each presenter (see above). Please send submissions to the conference email: multimodalmediations@gmail.com Deadline for submissions: 28 February 2020Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2020  

We would like to invite you to the 8th international scientific conference for PhD students and young researches. This year’s title is Tradition and Innovation in Translation Studies Research VIII: Translation in Motion. The conference will be held on 13th February 2020 at the Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. The aim of the conference is, just as every year, to provide an opportunity for the participants to present their research from various fields of their scientific interests within translation studies. As this year’s main topic, Translation in Motion, reflects the unceasing developments in translation studies, we will focus on new, as yet unresearched areas from across the entire range of translation studies - from didactics of translation (and interpretation), through history and translation criticism, non-literary translation and terminology, to (as is now tradition in Nitra) audiovisual translation. Deadline for submission of abstracts: 13 January For more information, click here

FACING THE FUTURE – TRANSLATION AND TECHNOLOGY Glendon College, York University (Toronto) – March 14, 2020  Keynote speaker: Sharon O’Brien, Dublin City University Into the second decade of the 21st century, technology continues to play an increasing role in translation processes and translator environments. What is translatable or not translatable through the mediation of machines is a central question as we head into the era of neural translation and AI. At the same time other questions emerge: are the existing models of collaborative translation, crowdsourcing, machine translated corpora, and cloud-based CAT tools leading us towards a new era of multi-modal plurality or to a fragmented dystopia where quality becomes a casualty? Is the interaction of human and machine in present and future translation ecologies a harbinger of an enlightened posthumanism or a problematic process that favours disembodied networks, algorithmic decision-making, and unsustainable growth in a time of runaway climate change and environmental degradation? This year’s graduate student conference will address what Minako O’Hagan (2019) describes as a kind of quantum entanglement, the link between human and machine, a crucial issue for our century. Deadline for submissions: 15 January 2020 For more information, click here