International Conference: Field Research on Translation and Interpreting

18–20 February 2021, Vienna

Aim and scope
The emerging area of field and workplace research in translation studies focuses on research on translation and interpreting in the very places where they occur, i.e. embedded in specific temporal, spatial and organisational environments. The International Conference on Field Research on Translation and Interpreting (FIRE-TI)seeks to bring together researchers who study translation and interpreting (T&I) practices, processes or networks in situ using a variety of different (inter)disciplinary approaches, e.g. from socio-logical, cognitive, anthropological or ergonomic perspectives. The primary objective of the conference is to create a common reflection space for T&I field and workplace research where experts can share in-sights into the diversity and complexity of translation and interpreting practices. In doing so, it also seeks to bring to the fore those particular aspects that are hard to reconstruct through product analyses or in a laboratory setting.
The conference will provide a forum for researchers with an interest in the situational embeddedness of translation and interpreting processes to present and discuss their approaches, methods and insights.
The contributions will discuss what kinds of concepts and theoretical approaches are needed to describe the investigated practices. What difference does the situatedness and embeddedness of translation and interpreting make for our descriptions of practices, processes and networks? What shapes the dynamics of the T&I fields and language industry today and how does this challenge the current conceptual boundaries in translation studies? How do new organisational forms influence practices and practitioners? How do working professionals and language industry stakeholders but also non-professional and amateur interpreters and translators perceive their situation and activities?
On a methodological level, we will discuss how to tackle the challenges of entering, analysing and de-scribing the field. How can we gather sufficient and adequate data on the increasingly digitalized, globally distributed processes and keep track of the dynamics in the field? How do we make the voice of the participants heard? Which ethical dilemmas and challenges do we face when entering and interacting in the field? How do we manage them?

Topics
We welcome a broad spectrum of conceptual, methodological and empirical contributions from various (inter)disciplinary backgrounds relating to the conference theme and invite submissions on studies of different T&I relevant settings. Suggested topics for presentations and posters include, but are not limited to, the following:
•T&I environments and workplaces; translators’ and interpreters’ working conditions; physical, cognitive and organisational ergonomics of T&I; actors and agents in T&I practice
•setting-specific aspects of T&I processes; interaction in T&I processes; the role of technology in T&I processes; professional and non-professional translation
•translators’ and interpreters’ (virtual) networks, communities (of practice) and collaborative environments; translation crowdsourcing; human-machine interfaces; cooperation and conflicts in T&I; translaboration; T&I and globalization
•cognitive and sociological aspects of T&I; situated, embodied cognition and T&I; practice theory approaches to T&I; translators’ and interpreters’ agency; social embeddedness of T&I on different levels (process, project, society, etc.)
•innovative theoretical frameworks; conceptual development; meta-reflexion
•methodological approaches to and challenges of field research–from entering the field to reporting on the results; data acquisition, analysis and management methods and issues; research ethics
•implications of field research for training; links between industry and academia

Confirmed keynote speakers
Kaisa Koskinen(Tampere University)
JeminaNapier(Heriot Watt University)

Scientific committee
Helle Vrønning Dam (Aarhus University)
Maija Hirvonen (Tampere University)
Waltraud Kolb (University of Vienna)
Jelena Milosevic (University of Vienna)
Sharon O’Brien (Dublin City University)
Maeve Olohan (University of Manchester)
Sonja Pöllabauer (University of Vienna)
Hanna Risku (University of Vienna)
Regina Rogl (University of Vienna)
Daniela Schlager (University of Vienna)

Submission of abstracts
Submissions are invited for 30-minute presentations (20 minutes for presenting and 10 minutes for discussion) and for posters. Abstracts should be submitted in English and should be no more than 350 words in length (excluding references and 3–5 keywords) and clearly state the research question(s), approach, method and (expected) findings.
Please upload your abstract as DOC or DOCX to the conference website (fireti.univie.ac.at) by 12 July 2020 and enter all the required information in the online form.

Conference language: English.

Location: Centre for Translation Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Registration fees
Early-bird registration (general): € 180
Early-bird registration (faculty members of the University of Vienna, students): € 100
Regular fee: € 220
Reduced fee (faculty members of the University of Vienna, students): € 140

Key dates
Submission of abstracts for presentations and posters by: 12 July 2020
Notification of acceptance: 28 September 2020
Early-bird registration available until: 4 December 2020
Registration closes: 5 February 2021*
Conference dates:18–20 February 2021
*Registration for confirmed speakers at the conference will close earlier.
Speakers will be notified via e-mail.

Further information: https://fireti.univie.ac.at/