Congratulations to UEA's Emily Rose on the publication of 'Translating Trans Identity: (Re)Writing Undecidable Texts and Bodies'

'Translating Trans Identity: (Re)Writing Undecidable Texts and Bodies' by Emily Rose is the first volume in the new Routledge series 'Studies in Literary Translation'. The series editors are BCLT's Duncan Large and Jacob Blakesley (University of Leeds). 

Emily Rose's book explores the ways in which translation deals with sexual and textual undecidability, adopting an interdisciplinary approach bridging translation, transgender studies, and queer studies in analyzing the translations of six texts in English, French, and Spanish labelled as 'trans.' In showing what translation and transgender identity can learn from one another, Rose lays the foundation for future directions for research into the translation of trans identity, making this book key reading for scholars in translation studies, transgender studies, and queer studies.

Download this flyer for 20% off the book

UEA's Hannah Osborne's translations published in Review of Japanese Culture and Society 

Hannah Osborne is Lecturer in Japanese Literature at the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing and the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia. She completed her doctoral thesis, Gender, Love and Text in the Early Writings of Kanai Mieko at the University of Leeds in 2015. Before taking up her current post, she taught courses in modern Japanese literature at SOAS, University of London, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include: intersections between text, illustration and the avant-garde arts; gender and the body; and women's writing and translation in modern Japanese literature. She is currently working on her book manuscript The Intermedial Text: Kanai Mieko and the Japanese Avant Garde. She is also Editor for Literature at Japan Forum.

Three of Hannah's translations have been published in Review of Japanese Culture and Society this month:

Ōba Minako’s Urashimaso: Memory as Trauma and Recovery in Literature by Mizuta Noriko

The Story of the Inflated Man by Kanai Mieko

A Memorandum on Photography: Movement and Time in Blurs and Stills by Kanai Mieko

BCLT's 2020-21 Events Programme available online

We have made the decision to take our 2020-21 programme of events online. This means that you can access all of our events from your own home. Go to our events page to see what we have coming up. In the meantime you can visit the BCLT YouTube channel to watch our recent research seminars. Here is Jacob Blakesley research seminar (21st October 2020) 'Global Translations of Dante's Divine Comedy: From the Renaissance until Today':

BCLT's Duncan Large to co-edit a new series of books - Routledge Studies in Literary Translation

Routledge Studies in Literary Translation highlights pioneering research in literary translation, exploring emerging developments, new voices, and key issues of relevance in core literary genres. The series questions the definition of literary translation as a sub-discipline in its own right with its own particular methodological and theoretical considerations as well as the extent to which its study extends to genres beyond the traditional categories of fiction, poetry, and drama. The series extends its scope beyond Anglophone literary traditions to feature research on translated literary works across a range of languages as well as the interface between literary translation and such topics as multilingual literature, literary canons, publishing markets, classics, and digital humanities. With its dedicated focus on literary translation, this series will appeal to students and scholars interested in the interface of translation studies and literary studies, as well as those in related disciplines such as comparative literature, literary criticism, sociology, and media studies.

For more information about the series, please visit the Routledge website.

If you’re interested in submitting a proposal for the series, please contact Series Editor Duncan Large for further information.

Documentary film released showing the work of Dr Cecilia Rossi's UEA GCRF QR funded project in Latin America

'Bridging Communities: The Role of Translators and Interpreters in the Process of Guaranteeing the Language Rights of Speakers of Indigenous Languages in Latin America.'

Dr Cecilia Rossi's translations of Alejandra Pizarnik's poetry are now available to pre-order from Ugly Duckling Presse

The Last Innocence and The Lost Adventures are Alejandra Pizarnik’s second and third collections of poetry. Published in Buenos Aires shortly after The Most Foreign Country—which she would later disavow—these early poems blend the real and the imaginary, demonstrating the inner torment, deep solitude, and acute vulnerability that would plague Pizarnik throughout her short life. This edition includes new English-language translations of both books by Dr Cecilia Rossi, along with an introduction by poet, translator, and Pizarnik scholar Ana Becciu.

Pre-order a copy now!

BCLT's Dr Cecilia Rossi launches new research project to help in the process of recovery and dissemination of indigenous languages in Latin America 

'Bridging Communities: The Role of Translators and Interpreters in the Process of Guaranteeing the Language Rights of Speakers of Indigenous Languages in Latin America.'
Rapid Response Funds — UEA GCRF QR Funding (Global Challenges Research Fund - Quality Review)

Translators and interpreters play a key role in the process of recovery and dissemination of indigenous languages throughout Latin America. Their work guarantees access to information and rights for indigenous communities, as well as the dissemination of their languages and cultures. However, the experience and training of translators and interpreters across the region varies greatly and has not been properly accounted for. This project aims to strengthen the bonds between professionals and researchers from different parts of the globe, in line with the aims of the International Year of Indigenous Languages, i.e. to promote the conservation and reinvigoration of said languages as well as the understanding of the importance of transmitting their “histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literature” (UN, A/RES/71/178).  In the first instance the project aims to create the space for translators and interpreters from indigenous languages to come together to discuss questions and concerns regarding their role and share best practice. This meeting is scheduled to take place in Bogotá, Colombia between 26-30 November 2019. Secondly, the project  seeks to support the work carried out by AATI (Argentine Association of Translators and Interpreters) through the Committee for Translation from Indigenous Languages, by facilitating cooperation between indigenous communities and literary translators (Spanish/ English). Practice research into this collaborative translation process will seek to establish a model for the recovery and transmission of the culture and literature of said communities through translation. 
 

Publication of 'Untranslatability: Interdisciplinary Perspectives'

We are pleased to announce the publication of 'Untranslatability: Interdisciplinary Perspectives'

Edited by BCLT's Prof Duncan Large, Motoko Akashi, Wanda Józwikowska and Emily Rose.

This volume is the first of its kind to explore the notion of untranslatability from a wide variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and its implications within the broader context of translation studies. Featuring contributions from both leading authorities and emerging scholars in the field, the book looks to go beyond traditional comparisons of target texts and their sources to more rigorously investigate the myriad ways in which the term untranslatability is both conceptualized and applied.

The first half of the volume focuses on untranslatability as a theoretical or philosophical construct, both to ground and extend the term’s conceptual remit, while the second half is composed of case studies in which the term is applied and contextualized in a diverse set of literary text types and genres, including poetry, philosophical works, song lyrics, memoir, and scripture. A final chapter examines untranslatability in the real world and the challenges it brings in practical contexts. Extending the conversation in this burgeoning contemporary debate, this volume is key reading for graduate students and researchers in translation studies, comparative literature, gender studies, and philosophy of language.

Find out more and purchase a copy.

BCLT Research Events Series Launched

The BCLT has launched a new series of research events at UEA, Norwich. Download the Autumn Series poster. The Autumn series includes research seminars by Richard Mansell and Sarah Maitland, as well Prof Duncan Large's inaugural lecture in December 2017, 'Could Google Translate Shakespeare?'.

AHRC Open World Research Initiative (OWRI)

BCLT and UEA are satellite partners in the AHRC Open World Research Initiative (OWRI) research project "Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community" led by the University of Manchester.

The subproject led by Cecilia Rossi comes under the "Translingual Strand" of the project led by Professor Catherine Davies, director of the Institute of Modern Languages Research and will focus on the translation of literature exploring how communities affected by past conflicts incorporate their experience into cultural memory, and how that memory can be sustained and circulated across language borders. The first round of funding for the project will allow BCLT to run two literary translation workshops at the BCLT Summer School in July 2017.