Seminar: 'The Translator’s Other Invisibility: Stylometry in Translation', London, 17 November 2011

An interesting-looking seminar in the 'London Seminar in Digital Text & Scholarship' series at the School of Advanced Study in London:

Date: Thursday 17 November 2011
Venue: Room 265 (Senate House, second floor)
Time: 17:30 - 19:30

Jan Rybicki: 'The Translator’s Other Invisibility: Stylometry in Translation'

Mona Baker's statement on translators' styles (as 'somewhat neglected in translation studies') has always sounded as a memento for my own literary translation work and has always led to the same question: when my target-language readers pay for their Polish Golding, Gordimer, or Ishiguro, are not they swindled into only getting Rybicki (himself not a Booker Prize winner) instead? More complex issues and translatorial blunders aside, are the readers indeed getting their money's worth at least in terms of style? Is there at all a Golding style in Polish, or does it vary from translator to translator?
Somewhat against my intuitions (and misgivings), the application of stylometrical authorship-attribution methods to the problem paints a morally-soothing picture. In multidimensional analyses of most-frequent-word usage, authors of originals are usually recognized in translation despite the transfer into another language and its production by another hand; also, despite the obvious fact that most-frequent-word lists of originals and translations do not exhibit a simple word-to-word correspondence. It also presents new questions as to what it is that non-traditional authorship attribution methods really show. And it is a manifestation of a new kind of translator's invisibility unforeseen by Venuti.

Jan Rybicki (b. 1963) is Assistant Professor of English Studies at the Jagiellonian University of Kraków, Poland; he also taught at Rice University, Houston, TX. His interests include translation, comparative literature and humanities computing, especially stylometry and authorship attribution. He has worked extensively (both traditionally and digitally) on Henryk Sienkiewicz and the reception of the Polish novelist's works into English, and on the reception of English literature in Poland. Rybicki is also an active literary translator into Polish, with some thirty novels by authors such as Coupland, Fitzgerald, Golding, Gordimer, Ishiguro, le Carré, Oe, or Winterson.

The London Seminar in Digital Text & Scholarship focuses on the ways in which the digital medium remakes the relationship of readers, writers, scholars, technical practitioners and designers to the manuscript and printed book. Its discussions are intended to inform public debate and policy as well as to stimulate research and provide a broad forum in which to present its results. Although the forum is primarily for those working in textual and literary studies, history of the book, humanities computing and related fields, its mandate is to address and involve an audience of non-specialists. Wherever possible the issues it raises are meant to engage all those who are interested in a digital future for the book.

Workshop on children's literature in translation, London (participants wanted)

The European Commission Representation in the UK, the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature of Roehampton University and the Translation Group of Imperial College London cordially invite you to:

'TRANSLATING THE WONDERFUL'
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION
6 DECEMBER 2011
3:00pm-8:00pm
Europe House
32 Smith Square
London SW1P 3EU

On Tuesday 6 December Europe House will host an event on translating children’s literature into English. It will take the format of workshop sessions, where students working from various languages into English will translate samples from classic children’s literature or literature closely related to the classics in style and theme, followed by a panel discussion and evening reception.

No single universe is as diverse and intriguing as the world of children's literature and yet so many visions pass us by because so little is translated into English. The idea then is to carry out translations of extracts from selected texts and to discuss the various possible approaches to the translation of children’s literature and in particular the differences and similarities in translation strategies across languages.

Each workshop will be coordinated by a leading translator of the respective language pair, with the findings of each workshop presented to the other participants in a concluding panel discussion.

The languages covered in the workshops will be Danish, Dutch, French and German.

-      The Danish workshop (Hans Christian Andersen) will be led by Dr. Kirsten Malmkjaer and is sponsored by the Danish Embassy.

-      The Dutch workshop (Annie MG Schmidt) will be led by David Colmer and is sponsored by the Dutch Embassy in London and the Dutch Foundation for Literature.

-      The French workshop (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) will be led by Ros Schwartz and Sarah Ardizonne, and is sponsored by the French Institute in London.

-      The German workshop (E.T.A. Hoffmann) will be led by Anthea Bell and is sponsored by the Goethe Institute in London.

-      Flanders House will also support and attend the event.

The workshops will be preceded by an opening introduction by Dr. Gillian Lathey (the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature) and concluded by an open cross-panel discussion, which will aim to draw conclusions regarding strategies for translating children’s literature from across Europe into English. This will be followed by a reception offered by the European Commission Representation in the UK.

Programme

3.00pm         Registration

3.30pm         Introduction by Dr. Gillian Lathey

3.45pm         Workshops

4.45pm         Group discussion

5.30pm         Tea and coffee

6.00pm         Panel discussion and conclusions

7.00pm         Reception

With regard to student participation, ideally for each language workshop we are looking for 6-12 English native speakers studying translation and with some experience of or interest in literary translation (either final year undergraduates or MA students). Participants in the afternoon workshops will also attend the panel discussion and reception, where they will have the opportunity to meet established translators.

Entrance to this event is free but places are limited. To reserve a place please e-mail Tom Barbanneau at: t.barbanneau@imperial.ac.uk (specify for which part you register: workshop+panel&reception OR panel&reception).

Location:

European Commission Representation UK
Europe House
32 Smith Square
London SW1P 3EU

(nearest Tube station: Westminster, 5-minute walk)

talk by Chris Durban, Portsmouth, 18 November

For those of you within what is picturesquely referred to in Ireland as an ass's roar of Portsmouth, we are honoured to be welcoming Chris Durban to the University on Friday 18 November to speak on the topic of:

"Premium translation: getting your hands dirty" 

Chris Durban

Friday 18 November 2011
1-2 pm
Park Building Room 2.07

This talk focuses on the ways that translators can interact with clients to get the information they need to produce a really good translation.

Chris Durban is a freelance translator (French to English) based in Paris, where she specializes in publication-level texts for demanding clients—the shareholders, customers and partners of a range of French corporations and institutions. For years she wrote a client education column called “The Onionskin” that ran in the ITI Bulletin (UK) and the ATA Chronicle (US), and she is co-author of the Fire Ant & Worker Bee advice column in Translation Journal. In October she published an updated and revised compilation of FA&WB columns in book form: The Prosperous Translator. For more of Chris on the translation profession, see the free webinar at http://speakingoftranslation.com/listen/ (it's the third in the list)
This event is free and everyone is welcome.

EU recruiting translators for fixed-term contracts

EU to recruit translators as contract staff in 23 languages
		The European Union is looking for translators in all 23 official EU languages to work in the translation departments of all the EU institutions. The successful applicants will be recruited for a fixed period of up to 3 years, often with a shorter initial contract of 12 months depending on the type of job. Posts will be available in Luxembourg and Brussels. The new recruits will translate political, legal, economic/financial, scientific and technical texts covering all EU areas of activity, from agriculture and internal market to energy and employment. The work entails translation from at least two foreign languages (including one of English, French or German) into the translator’s main language, as well as revision of translations and terminology research. These tasks require intensive use of IT tools. Who can apply? Applicants must have completed university studies of at least three years with a diploma as a proof, have a perfect command of one of the official languages of the European Union, have a thorough knowledge of one of English, French or German (in addition to the language above), have a thorough knowledge of another of the official languages of the European Union, be a national of an EU Member State. How to apply? Applications must be made online. Follow the instructions on the EPSO website and in the application manual. The closing date for sending applications is 29 November 2011 at 12:00 (midday), Brussels time. For detailed information on the selection and eligibility criteria as well as the procedure, see the Call for Expression of Interest.

Translation Summer Schools and EST Summer School Scholarship 2012

For graduate students embarking on PhDs in translation, there are two well-established summer schools to help you develop your research proposal. (It may be useful to know that the European Society for Translation Studies offers a summer school scholarship which contributes 1,000 euro towards costs for the successful candidate; if you plan to attend a summer school, do consider applying! The deadline is 1 May 2012).

CETRA 2012

Twenty-fourth Research Summer School

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

22-31 August 2012

                                               

CETRA Chair Professor:

Franz Pöchhacker, University of Vienna

In 1989 José Lambert created a special research program in Translation Studies at the University of Leuven in order to promote research training in the study of translational phenomena and to stimulate high-level research into the cultural functions of translation. Since then, this unique program has attracted talented PhD students and young scholars who spend two weeks of research under the supervision of a team of prominent scholars, and under the supervision of the Chair Professor, an annually appointed expert in the field of Translation Studies. From 1989 on, the program has hosted participants from Austria to Australia, from Brazil to Burundi, and from China to the Czech Republic.

The list of CETRA professors may serve as an illustration of the program’s openness to the different currents in the international world of Translation Studies: Gideon Toury (Tel Aviv, 1989), Hans Vermeer (Heidelberg, 1990), Susan Bassnett (Warwick, 1991), Albrecht Neubert (Leipzig, 1992), Daniel Gile (Paris, 1993), Mary Snell-Hornby (Vienna, 1994), †André Lefevere (Austin, 1995), Anthony Pym (Tarragona, 1996), Yves Gambier (Turku, 1997), Lawrence Venuti (Philadelphia, 1998), Andrew Chesterman (Helsinki, 1999), Christiane Nord (Magdeburg, 2000), Mona Baker (Manchester, 2001), Maria Tymoczko (Amherst, Massachusetts, 2002), Ian Mason (Edinburgh, 2003), Michael Cronin (Dublin, 2004), †Daniel Simeoni (Toronto, 2005), Harish Trivedi (Delhi, 2006), Miriam Shlesinger (Tel Aviv, 2007), Kirsten Malmkjaer (London, 2008), Martha Cheung (Hong Kong, 2009), Sherry Simon (Montreal, 2010), Christina Schaeffner (Aston, 2011).

Basic activities and components of the Summer Session:

1.                  Public Lectures by the CETRA Professor on key topics. A preliminary reading list will be furnished and all topics are to be further developed in discussions.

2.                  Theoretical-methodological seminars given by the CETRA staff. Basic reading materials will be made available in advance.

3.                  Tutorials: individual discussions of participants’ research with the CETRA Professor and the CETRA staff.

4.                  Students’ papers: presentation of participants’ individual research projects followed by open discussion.

5.                  Publication: each participant is invited to submit an article based on the presentation, to be refereed and published on the CETRA website.

For further information:

- please contact Reine Meylaerts: reine.meylaerts at arts.kuleuven.be

- please see our website: http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/cetra

*******

TRANSLATION RESEARCH SUMMER SCHOOL (TRSS) 2012

Dates: 18-29 June 2012
Venue: Translation Studies Graduate Programme, University of Edinburgh (U.K.)

The TRANSLATION RESEARCH SUMMER SCHOOL (TRSS) is a joint initiative of three British universities (University of Manchester, University of Edinburgh, and University College London) and the Hong Kong Baptist University. Every year TRSS organizes summer schools in the UK and in Hong Kong, offering intensive research training in translation and intercultural studies for prospective researchers in the field.

Specialist theme for TRSS UK 2012: Impact of Technology on Translation and Interpreting Research

Other modules include:

·                     Theoretical Approaches to Translation Studies

·                     Research Methods in Translation Studies

·                     Research Design & Dynamics

Description:  

The Summer School syllabus is delivered through lectures, seminars and small-group tutorials by core TRSS staff from the partner institutions and invited colleagues.
TRSS UK 2012 is delighted to announce that its guest lecture will be delivered by Dr Dorothy Kenny, Dublin City University. Dr Kenny will also offer a research methodology seminar and tutorials.

Applicants to the Summer School should normally hold the degree of Master of Arts or equivalent, in a relevant subject, should be proficient in English and should either have started or be actively considering research in translation and/or intercultural studies.

Registration fees: 975 GBP for sponsored students, 680 GBP for self-funded students

Early application deadline: 16 January 2012 (to facilitate funding/visa applications)
Second application deadline: 30 April 2012

More details on course content and application procedures can be found on the Translation Research Summer School website at http://www.researchschool.org/

last chance to register for Portsmouth Translation Conference

 

Dear all, 

Just a quick reminder that the eleventh Portsmouth translation conference is this coming Saturday 5 November and registrations will close on Thursday. The theme is 'Translation and Memory' and we will be welcoming delegates and speakers from several continents including three distinguished invited speakers.

 

The programme, abstracts and online registration link are at www.port.ac.uk/translationconference. Enquiries to translation@port.ac.uk.