Background:

‘Community translation’ or ‘public service translation’ refers to translation of different types of texts intended to facilitate communication between public services and people who do not have a good command of mainstream language(s). These texts may be produced by national or local authorities, non-governmental organisations, ethnic community organisations or leaders, neighbourhood associations, or any other social agent.  They may include information leaflets, brochures, local newspapers, radio programs and websites among other genres and formats. The common denominator is that they are texts that need to be translated into minority languages in order to ensure communication with all citizens and residents and empower minority language speakers by giving them access to information and enabling them to participate in society.

Community interpreting and community translation are emerging subfields in translation studies. While community interpreting has attracted a considerable amount of scholarly attention, community translation has not received the interest it deserves in terms of research, publications and conferences. The Critical Link international conferences, which have given visibility to community language services, are understandably mostly about community interpreting. When they include papers on translation, these constitute only a minor portion. In training courses as well there seems to be more focus on community interpreting than community translation. Translation courses around the world tend to focus on literary translation, technical translation and, recently, audiovisual translation. Little attention has been given to the translation and intercultural communication skills needed to guarantee successful written communication between public services and those members of the community who are unable to read in the mainstream language(s).

The first International Conference on Community Translation will provide a high-profile forum for researchers and translation practitioners to share views, experiences and research findings. It will enhance the visibility of this subfield of study in current scholarly debate as well as among policymakers in areas related to language services, multiculturalism and human (communicative) rights. The proceedings of the event will offer current and future community translation students and researchers a valuable resource.

Topics:

The main topics to be covered in the first International Conference on Community Translation include, but are not limited to, the following:

-         Community translation as a distinct subfield in translation studies

-         Ideology, language policies and community translation services

-         Power relationships: translating vs./as empowering

-         Community translators and socio-cultural diversity

-         Translating from and into minority languages

-         Translating for temporary communities (e.g. international religious events, refugees and displaced people)

-         Training in community translation

-         Quality assurance in community translation 

Plenary speakers:

Prof. Dorothy Kelly (Granada University, Spain)

Adjunct A/Prof. Uldis Ozolins (University of Western Sydney, Australia)

Dr. Harold Lesch (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)

Nested event:

The conference will include a series of nested workshops which will be specially designed for current and potential HDR candidates and run by internationally recognised researchers. The workshops will include:

1) Session on qualitative research methods in translation studies,

2) Session on quantitative research methods in TS,

3) Session on engaged research (research and local communities),

4) Feedback session for HDR and other students participating with papers or posters.

Abstract submission:

Abstracts for thirty-minute presentations, posters or panel discussions may be submitted at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icct2014 

Key dates:

Deadline for abstract submission:       30 March 2014

Notification of acceptance:                 30 April 2014

Registration opens:                              1 May 2014

Registration fees:

Early bird registration (by 30 May 2014):        250 AUD

Normal rate:                                                    300 AUD

Students:                                                         100 AUD

Conference social dinner (optional):                100 AUD

Publication:

A selection of refereed conference papers will be submitted to a major publisher.

Organising committee:

Chair:               Mustapha Taibi (University of Western Sydney)

Members:         Ignacio Garcia (University of Western Sydney)

                        Mira Kim (University of New South Wales)

Venue:

School of Humanities and Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney, Bankstown Campus (details to be provided in due course).

Enquiries:

For more information, please contact Ignacio Garcia (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).