Wednesday 2 November 2016

Lecture by Professor Mona Baker, Bristol, 10 November 2016



We are really excited to welcome Professor Mona Baker, Emeritus Professor in Translation Studies from the University of Manchester, who will give a lecture on:

Fluidity, Uncertainty and Distance: Researching Volunteer Subtitling in the Context of the Egyptian Revolution

Thursday 10 November 2016
5.15pm - 6.30pm
Lecture Theatre 3, 17 Woodland Road (entrance for non-university members via 3-5 Woodland Rd)
Entrance is free and all are welcome.

Abstract
While interest in volunteer translation and interpreting has grown noticeably in recent years, little field work has been undertaken to examine this important form of citizen media practice in violent and high risk contexts. Drawing on a recent study of the collaboration between subtitlers and filmmakers during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, this presentation will focus on the challenges posed by a fast-paced, fluid, non-hierarchical context of collaboration between relatively distinct groups (filmmakers and subtitlers) who do not interact regularly despite producing prolific output collaboratively. The discussion will also explore the difficulty of offering traditional research ‘findings’ in contexts where intense human relations and experiences are unfolding and taking unpredictable directions during the research period, rendering any notion of optimal researcher distance from the object of study both unworkable and undesirable and placing issues of trust and ethics at the centre of the research agenda. These difficulties are further exasperated by the ethos of contemporary movements of collective action, where there is often no interest in maintaining a record of individual contributions to any output or even a basic hierarchical structure that prevents any member from editing a (subtitled) video after it has been published.

More information at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/events/2016/november/fluidity.html

She's a fantastic speaker, and we hope to see some of you there!