A Workshop organised under the auspices of Aberystwyth University, the
University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Germanic& Romance Studies,
London
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Coordinators: Andrea Hammel (Aberystwyth) and Peter Davies (Edinburgh)
Venue: Institute of Germanic& Romance Studies, University of London
CALL FOR PAPERS
Interest in writing by survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust is
increasing rather than decreasing with the passing of the years; the
Holocaust is a key component of educational curricula in the USA and many
European countries, literary and historical works and memoirs of survivors
regularly reach the bestseller lists, and films with a Holocaust theme
attract large audiences.
However, the vast majority of these works of testimony and literature are
read and interpreted in translation, usually without any acknowledgement
of this fact. Much of the critical language of ‘authenticity’ and
‘immediacy’ that is used in connection with testimonial and
autobiographical writing of Holocaust survivors does not take into account
the effects of translation, and there has been very little scholarly work
on the translation of these texts. Work in Translation Studies has drawn
attention to the role of the translator both as a cultural mediator making
texts available to new audiences and as an interpreter of the text
affected by a variety of ideological influences; making visible the
translator and the conditions under which translations are produced
unsettles some of the assumptions of studies of Holocaust writing, but
also opens up new fields of investigation.
This work can only be done by bringing together scholars of Translation,
Life writing, Holocaust writing and experts with different linguistic
expertise. This workshop will be the fourth meeting of the AHRC Network
Holocaust Writing and Translation, and will include a public event to be
held at the Wiener Library inviting interested members of the public to
participate.
Proposals for papers are invited on any issue relating to the theme, such as
* The interaction of translation and reception of Holocaust texts
* The productivity of translation
* The ethical responsibility of the translator in the field of Holocaust
writing
* The question of authorial ‘voice’
* The consequences of translation for the authenticity of testimony
* The relationship of translation theory and practice
* Genre and genre shifts in translation and reception of Holocaust texts
* The development of translation norms and their relation to changes in
the status of the Holocaust, the role of the witness, etc.
* Questions of editorial and marketing practice
* The status of languages into/out of which texts are translated, in
relation to Holocaust memory
* Canon formation and translation
Please send proposals for papers (no more than 300 words) to both and
Andrea Hammel (a.hammel@aber.ac.uk) and Peter Davies
(peter.j.davies@ed.ac.uk) by 31 October 2010.
Jane Lewin
Institute of Germanic& Romance Studies
University of London School of Advanced Study
Room ST 272, Senate House
Malet Street, GB- London WC1E 7HU
Telephone 0044 (0)20 7862 8966
Website www.igrs.sas.ac.uk
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