[Bilimsel Haber] CFP - "Retranslation in Context," Dec. 12-13, 2013, Boğaziçi U

[Gonul Pultar]

From: Ozlem Berk Albachten <ozlem.berk at boun.edu.tr>

Dear colleagues,

Please find below a Call for Papers for the forthcoming conference 
organized by the Department of Translation & Interpreting Studies at 
Bogazici University on 12-13 December 2013.

Abstracts (300 words) in English or Turkish for 20-minute papers  should 
be sent to retranslation at boun.edu.tr and  sehnaz.tahir at boun.edu.tr by 
September 1, 2013.

I hope this conference and topic will stimulate your interest.

Please do not hesitate to circulate this CFP more widely.

All best wishes,

Ozlem Berk Albachten


RETRANSLATION IN CONTEXT

CALL FOR PAPERS
12-13 December 2013
Bogazici University
Istanbul

The conceptual framework of retranslation has expanded considerably 
since the “retranslation hypothesis” proposed in the 1990s. Studies 
covering different text types, historical periods and individual 
retranslators have revealed the diversity of motives and contexts of 
retranslation and the time is now ripe to discuss the theoretical and 
methodological consequences of these findings.

An increased focus on the practice and concept of retranslation has 
served as a point of departure for discussions on a number of issues 
such as the historical context of translations, norms, ideology, 
translator’s agency and intertextuality. Retranslated works often 
signal, trigger, or result in linguistic, literary and intellectual 
change in the target culture, while investigations on retranslations 
may help reveal otherwise implicit social conflict or struggle among 
cultural agents who resort to retranslation to attain cultural or 
ideological, and even personal goals. Although the main object of 
studies dealing with retranslation has been literary translation and 
the translation of sacred texts, a growing interest can be observed in 
retranslations of other text types in different media. The role of 
retranslation in the dissemination of knowledge and transfer of new 
ideas and concepts is becoming increasingly evident.

A recent interdisciplinary project launched by researchers at Bogazici 
University (2011-2016) has started compiling a comprehensive 
bibliography of retranslations published in the Ottoman and modern 
Turkish societies, offering quantitative data and trends about 
retranslated works and their translators. As the project enters a new 
phase and launches critical analyses of statistical data, as well as  of 
retranslated texts, the potential contribution of a retranslation 
framework to studies on the cultural and translation history of Turkey 
is expected to be substantial.

The Conference “Retranslation in Context” to be held at Bogazici 
University on 12-13 December 2013 takes its point of departure from  the 
findings offered and challenges posed by this Project. Its goal is  to 
provide a platform for a discussion of retranslation both as  practice 
and concept and to trigger theoretical reflections and  methodological 
inquiries on retranslation.

The Conference will also feature a special component with a keynote 
session dedicated to retranslation in historical perspective.

Keynote Session:
Re/Translation(s) in Historical Perspective: Pre-/Early/Late Modern 
Practices and Debates – Special Component of the International 
Conference “Retranslation in Context”

Retranslation has been the subject of research more in the modern 
historical context than in the pre- or early modern. Furthermore, most 
work on retranslation focuses on literary writing and sacred texts 
rather than the transmission of knowledge. In fact, hardly any studies 
have problematized the multifarious aspects of retranslation in terms 
of concept and practice in their pre- and early modern contexts, 
although translation history abounds in translators who have rendered 
source texts interlingually, producing target texts that often serve  as 
source texts for later translators. Moreover, closer examination 
reveals that retranslations in pre- and early modern historical 
contexts generally serve the transmission of knowledge or aesthetics 
from previous sources (translations or retranslations themselves). 
Scholarship has already shown that such texts were manipulated (i.e. 
supplemented, cut down, or collated from other sources) according to 
the inclinations, motives, or purposes of a particular translator, in  a 
particular socio-historical context, a particular geographical 
location, under a particular patron, etc.

This special component of the conference will bring together scholars 
and researchers from various fields for a discussion and rethinking of 
issues of practice and theory with a view to developing fresh 
perspectives that may result from a “dialogue” or comparison between 
the pre-/early and late modern re/translation traditions. We invite 
speakers to place particular emphasis on the re/translator’s agency.

We propose for your consideration the following topics, which are by  no 
means restrictive.
- Roots of translation and retranslation traditions: Graeco-Arab and others
- Historicity of re/translation
- Re/translations of scientific texts on history, medicine, geography, 
astronomy, etc.
- Ideological and political motives of retranslation.
- Networks and itineraries of translators and translations.
- Patronage and patrons of retranslations
- Reception/readership of retranslations
- Retranslation in different media, i.e. audiovisual and electronic media
- Intralingual retranslation

Abstracts (300 words) in English or Turkish for 20-minute papers  should 
be sent to retranslation at boun.edu.tr and  sehnaz.tahir at boun.edu.tr by 
September 1, 2013.

Working Languages: English and Turkish

Invited Speakers
Cemal Kafadar (Harvard University)
Hakan Karateke (University of Chicago)
Harun Kucuk (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science)

Local Committee:
Şehnaz Tahir Gurcaglar
Saliha Paker
Ozlem Berk Albachten

International Advisory Board:
Edhem Eldem (Bogazici University)
Kaisa Koskinen (University of Eastern Finland)
Outi Paloposki (University of Turku)
Zeynep Sabuncu (Bogazici University)
Sebnem Susam Sarajeva (University of Edinburgh)


-- 
Ozlem Berk Albachten, Assoc. Prof. (Ph.D)
Bogazici University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies
34342 Bebek, Istanbul
E-mail: ozlem.berk at boun.edu.tr
Tel: +90 212 3596448
Fax: +90 212 2877174