The conference follows the success of the first Retranslation in Context conference held at Boğaziçi University on December 12-13, 2013. Retranslation in Context I was conceived during the “Bibliographical and Analytical Research Project on Retranslations in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Societies” carried out at Boğaziçi University (2011-2016). Since the first conference, the research project has advanced in a number of different directions. While the bibliography of retranslations grew quantitatively, researchers affiliated with the project continued unfolding new aspects of the role and function of retranslations in Ottoman and Turkish societies. As the project nears completion in Spring 2016, we feel that this is a good moment to reach out to colleagues and students working on retranslation internationally and invite them to continue discussion on the theme. In the meantime, the publication of a special issue of the journal Target on “Voice in Retranslation” (editors Cecilia Alvstad and Alexandra Assis Rosa 2015) and Sharon Deane-Cox’s recent book, Retranslation, Translation, Literature and Reinterpretation (Bloomsbury Publishing 2014) have demonstrated that the field of retranslation is in expansion and critical reflection is in order.
Once theorized within the realm of literary translation and strictly conceptualized as a phenomenon characterizing interlingual translation, the notion of retranslation is now taken up from a much broader perspective. Papers presented at the first Retranslation in Context Conference evidenced the growing scope and explanatory force of the notion and practice of retranslation.
One of most significant findings of our Bibliographical Research Project is the prevalence of retranslation in Ottoman culture. To draw further attention to this field, our Retranslation in Context I began with a special session led by Cemal Kafadar, Hakan Karateke and Harun Küçük, leading scholars of Ottoman history and culture, who emphasized how research on texts identified as translations and retranslations (including scholarly commentaries) would enliven this understudied field, casting new light on literary and intellectual history as well as the history of science. These and other contributions to the Conference also demonstrated that focusing on retranslation helps bring out issues very much at the heart of translation studies, such as power, ideology, social change, cultural rivalry and agency. We were very happy to see that the conference had also stimulated innovative approaches including retranslation in different media, namely cartoons, music, film and theatre; retranslation from/into less translated languages; retranslation of non-fictional material; retranslation and paratextual research and retranslation and translation ethics.
In Retranslation in Context II, we hope to further build on the discussion and open new avenues for researchers. We invite contributions on any of the below topics and specific case studies of retranslations:
- Roots of translation and retranslation traditions: Graeco-Arab and others
- Historicity of re/translation
- Re/translations of scientific texts
- Ideological and political motives of retranslation
- Networks and itineraries of translators and retranslations
- Patronage and patrons of retranslations
- Reception/readership of retranslations
- Retranslation in different media, i.e. audiovisual and electronic media
- Intralingual retranslation
- Retranslation as metaphor or trope in fiction
- Self-retranslation
- Ethics of retranslation
- Retranslation, re-edition, revision
Please specify text(s) you will focus on, including references, and send your abstract (300 words) in English or Turkish for 20-minute papers to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by September 15, 2015. A selection of papers from the first and second conferences will be submitted for publication.
Working Languages: English and Turkish
Invited speakers: to be announced at a later date
Local Committee:
Saliha Paker
Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar
Özlem Berk Albachten
Esra Demirkoparan
International Advisory Board:
Kaisa Koskinen (University of Eastern Finland)
Outi Paloposki (University of Turku)
Şebnem Susam Saraeva (University of Edinburgh)
Alexandra Assis Rosa (University of Lisbon)
Cecilia Alvstad (University of Oslo)
The programme and speakers of Retranslation in Context I are available at http://www.retranslation-conference.boun.edu.tr/
