Translation in Iberian-Slavonic Cultural Exchange

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of IberoSlavica

IberoSlavica ([url=http://www.clepul.eu/rev-iberoslavica.asp]http://www.clepul.eu/rev-iberoslavica.asp[/url]) is an international peer-reviewed journal published annually and bringing to the fore the complex issues inherent in the encounters between Iberian and Slavonic cultures.

In 2013 IberoSlavica will publish a special issue on translation in Iberian-Slavonic cultural exchange. The issue is meant to explore the complex causes, conditions and consequences of direct and indirect translation transfer between Iberian (e.g., Catalan, Castilian, Galician, Portuguese) and Slavonic (e.g., Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Ukrainian, etc.) languages. Due to its key role in the encounters between geographically and linguistically distant cultures, translation has become a prime area of interest for scholars from the field of Iberian-Slavonic studies (see, e.g., Pięta 2011). Given the often mediated nature of such encounters, special attention, albeit often in pre-theoretical ways, has been paid to the study of indirect translation (Toury 1995). Nevertheless, in spite of its significance, the role of direct and indirect translation in the exchange between Iberian and Slavonic cultures, and their respective languages, remains largely unexplored. As has been argued by a number of scholars (e.g., Cieszyńska and Pięta 2010; Franco 2010), such research may be revealing on various accounts. First and foremost, it may help to explore the way in which cultural relations between and among (semi)peripheral (Heilbron 1999) languages is shaped. By doing so, it may also provide a better understanding of the complex role of intermediary centres, such as London, Frankfurt, Paris and Moscow (Casanova 2004), in the cross-cultural literary transfer between and among the European peripheries concerned. Moreover, it is likely to shed new light on the mechanisms of translation transfer between ideologically antagonistic regimes, as has been the case, for example, of the communist Eastern Block countries (Ramet 1998) and the para-fascists (Griffin 1991) Spain and Portugal. All in all, an in-depth study of Iberian-Slavonic translations may help fill the historiographical gap in the world map of relations between and among cultures.

This issue on “Translation in Iberian-Slavonic cultural exchange” therefore invites contributions focusing on the mapping and analysis of the translation exchange between Iberian and Slavonic cultures. Contributions focused on empirical issues and based on both panoramic and single case studies are especially welcome. The studies can refer to various text types, Iberian-Slavonic language pairs, degrees of directness and translation directions.

Contributions on theoretical or methodological questions related to the study of translation in Iberian-Slavonic transfer are also welcome. While the focus of this issue is on translation in Iberian-Slavonic cultural exchange, panoramic studies regarding general translation flow from Iberian or Slavonic cultures into central intermediary cultures, as well as contributions on theoretical and methodological issues concerning the indirect translation and the power relations between the European cultural centres and peripheries (as reflected in translation flow), will also be considered.

Guidelines:

- The length of an article is between 5000 and 8000 words.
- All articles must be submitted in English after having been proofread by an English native speaker.
- All articles submitted must be original and unpublished material.
- Articles should follow the style sheet and template available from the editors (see attachments at http://www.clepul.eu/noticias.asp?id=79).
- Abstracts should be submitted to both guest editors, i.e., Teresa Seruya and Hanna Pięta, at t.seruya@fl.ul.pt and hannapieta@campus.ul.pt, as well as to the journal’s editor-in-chief, i.e., Beata Cieszyńska, at compares.yearbook@gmail.com.
- The submitted text will be double-blind peer-reviewed.

Important dates:

- The deadline for submission of abstracts (between 500 and 600 words) is April 25, 2012

- The notification of the outcome of abstracts’ reviewing process will be given by May 20, 2012
- The deadline for submission of articles is December 31, 2012

References:

Casanova, Pascale. 2004. The world republic of letters. Trans. M.B. Debevoise. Cambridge, Ma. - London: Harvard University Press.
Cieszyńska, Beata and Hanna Pięta. 2011. “Translation studies from within the Iberian-Slavonic perspective: Overview and outlooks”. Ibero-Slavica 1. 12-21.
Franco, Eduardo. 2010. “Introdução [Introduction]”. Eduardo Franco, Teresa Pinheiro and Beata Cieszyńska, eds. Europa de Leste e Portugal. Realidades, Relações e Representações. Lisbon: Esfera do Caos, 2010. 11-16.
Griffin, Roger. 1991. The Nature of Fascism. London: Pinter. Heilbron, Johan. 1999. “Towards a sociology of translation: Book translations as a cultural world-system”. European Journal of Social Theory 2:4. 429-444.
Pięta, Hanna 2011. "Estudos Ibero-Eslavos em Portugal: uma disciplina in statu nascendi [Iberian-Slavonic studies in Portugal: a discipline in statu nascendi]." Letras Com Vida 3. 146-150.
Ramet, Sabrina. 1998. Eastern Europe: Politics, culture and society since 1939. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive translation studies and beyond. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.