Translation as Communication, (Re-)narration and (Trans-)creation

First International Symposium

Synopsis
The first edition of the Translation Symposium organised by the Language and Translation Research Group of the Department of Humanities at the University of Palermo will be an opportunity for colleagues and postgraduate students across disciplines to explore new views on translation that extend beyond the traditional comparisons of target texts and their sources. Since the symposium is not restricted to a linguistic perspective on translation, it aims to promote transdisciplinary and translanguaging connections and collaborative research platforms around the moving boundaries of translation as a category of investigation in a variety of domains. This will permit us to survey translation shifts in interdisciplinary fields that range from literature, popular culture and narrative theory to applied linguistics, corpora-based studies, and specialised text typologies.

The rationale of this interdisciplinary view of translation across disciplines and genres is based on the concept of translation as a fundamental instrument of cultural transmission. Founded on the idea of translation as a flexible site of linguacultural contacts, the symposium sees the translation paradigm as a medium of communication, re-narration, trans-creation and localisation across cultures and popular genres. This multifaceted function of translation is in particular played out in the context of the creative industries such as in audio-visual scripts, commercials and social advertising, crowdsourcing, videogames, documentary films, the visual arts, installations and video arts, museum texts, minor fiction and canonical literature.
By highlighting the numerous tasks of translators and translations in contemporary societies, the symposium will be an occasion to debate significant issues within the field of Translation Studies. In the light of the complexity of this area of enquiry, which has been growing particularly quickly in recent years, we invite contributions including, but not limited to, the trans-creation of non-fiction texts as well as literature:

- Translation as a critical resource of exchange, transformation and identity
- Translation and the production of knowledge
- Translation, migration and cultural memories
- Translation, manipulation and the invention of traditions
- Epistemology and research methodology
- Translation criticism

In the field of literature, we especially encourage presentations on popular genres (fantasy, adventure, crime, travel writing, young adult literature, dystopia, chick-lit, etc.).

Plenary session papers will be allocated 45 minutes; parallel session contributions will follow a 20-minute format.

A selection of articles based on the contributions presented at this first edition of the Palermo Symposium will be published in a thematically arranged volume.

The language of the conference will be English.

Invited speakers
In the light of the variety of interdisciplinary approaches and the diversity of topics within the broad realm of Translation Studies, the following distinguished guests have confirmed their participation as plenary speakers:

-Mona Baker, University of Manchester, UK
-Leon Burnett, University of Essex, UK
-Dionysios Kapsaskis, University of Roehampton, London
-David Katan, University of Salento
-Karen Seago, City University London
-Federico Zanettin, University of Perugia

Submission procedures
A 250-word abstract should be sent to 1translation2016@unipa.it by 31 January 2016. Please include in the body of the email, your name and affiliation, and attach a brief bio-sketch.

Important dates
Submission date for abstracts: 31 January 2016
Notification of acceptance: 28 February 2016
Registration opens: 1 March 2016
Registration closes: 30 March 2016
Paper submission: 30 September 2016

 

Contacts
For queries regarding the symposium, please write to the symposium organisers at 1translation2016@unipa.it.

Symposium website
For all information regarding the symposium, please visit the website in mid-March 2016: [url=http://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/dipartimentoscienzeumanistiche/convegni/translation]http://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/dipartimentoscienzeumanistiche/convegni/translation[/url].

Scientific Committee
Giovanni Benenati (University of Bologna), Leon Burnett (University of Essex), Valentina Castagna (University of Palermo), Duccio Colombo (University of Palermo), Arianna Di Bella (University of Palermo), Floriana Di Gesù (University of Palermo), Matteo Di Gesù (University of Palermo), Federico Federici (University College London), Sabine Hoffman (University of Palermo), Dionysios Kapsaskis (University of Roehampton), Antonio Lavieri (University of Palermo, Société française de traductologie, Paris), Elena Manca (University of Salento), Michela Marroni (Università della Tuscia), Giuseppe Paternostro (University of Palermo), Laura Restuccia (University of Palermo), Alessandra Rizzo (University of Palermo), Jaana Helena Sympanen (Language Centre), Chiara Sciarrino (University of Palermo), Maria Grazia Sciortino (University of  Palermo), Cinzia Spinzi (University of Palermo), Giusy Tamburello (University of Palermo), Francesca Vigo (University of Catania), Antonello Velez (University of Palermo), Marianna Lya Zummo (University of Palermo).

Department of Humanities
PhD in Literary, Philological and Linguistic Studies
Second-Cycle Degrees in Modern Languages and Translation in International Relations, and Theories of Visual and Textual Communication

Higher Education – Research Community