Translation as History. Layers, traces and interventions

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A guest lecture by Professor Theo Hermans (UCL)

Open to all

Abstract

With every translation we read, at least three layers of time are activated: our moment of reading, the moment when the translation was made and the original invoked by the translation. More layers can easily be discerned, as shown by such things as indirect translations, retranslations and temporal references within translations. In the first part of this talk, Prof. Hermans will explore the kind of traces that lead us to the temporal layers contained in translations.

Attention to these layers makes us aware that translations are embedded in history. But translations are made for a reason, and these reasons exceed translation. That means we can also read translations as acting on their historical context. In the second part of the talk, Prof. Hermans will present a seven-step model to help us read translations as interventions and illustrate the model with an extended example.

Biography

Theo Hermans is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Translation Studies, University College London (UCL).

His monographs include The Structure of Modernist Poetry (1982), Translation in Systems (1999; reissued in 2020 as a Routledge Translation Classic), The Conference of the Tongues (2007) and Translation and History (2022). A selection of his essays appeared under the title Metatranslation (2023). He is the editor of The Manipulation of Literature (1985), The Flemish Movement: A Documentary History (1992), Crosscultural Transgressions (2002), Translating Others (2 vols, 2006), A Literary History of the Low Countries (2009) and other titles. His main research interests concern the theory and history of translation.

Event format

The event will take place in person.

Simultaneous translation

The event will be delivered in the medium of English. You are welcome to ask questions in the medium of Welsh during the Q&A session. If you intend to do this, please contact mlang-events@cardiff.ac.uk by Monday 15 April to request simultaneous translation.

Please note that 10% or more of those planning to attend will need to request this provision in order for it to be sourced and will be subject to resource availability.

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