Convenors
Magdalena Heydel (Jagiellonian University)
Daniele Monticelli (Tallinn University)
Contact email: wg-eastern-central-europe[at]historyandtranslation[dot]net (delivers to the convenors)
Aims
In recent years, many projects concerning the histories of literary translation have been started or completed in different European countries and languages. A fair number of such projects have been going on in Eastern and Central Europe. The region, whose geographical and political definition has been disputed and redefined, whose cultural and linguistic identity is far from homogenous, still shares much as far as historical and political experience is concerned. At the same time, each national, linguistic and cultural community within the area has been shaped by a set of different, specific conditions and processes. The practical aim of the work group is to bring together scholars researching the history of literary translation in Eastern and Central Europe and create a platform for discussion of achievements, discoveries, observations, challenges, problems and conclusions we could share. The overall aim is to understand the specificity of the literary translation field in the region and to produce innovative concepts and new research tools which could be useful to the study of translation history at large.
How to join
To join the WG, please write to the convenors at: wg-eastern-central-europe[at]historyandtranslation[dot]net
First Meeting
The first meeting of the WG was held in Kraków on the 16th and 17th of May 2024.
Researching Translation History in Central and Eastern Europe Seminar
The seminar Researching Translation History in Central and Eastern Europe was organized by the Centre for Translation Studies, Faculty of Polish, Jagiellonian University, together with the History and Translation Network and held at the JU Faculty of Polish in Kraków on May 16-17, 2024. The concept of the event that brought together researchers of translation history in the region was developed by Prof. Daniele Monticelli (Tallinn University) and Prof. Magda Heydel (Jagiellonian University). The organizing committee at the JU also included Dr. Zofia Ziemann and Natalia Roguz.
The main topic was writing histories of literary translation in Eastern and Central European contexts. The aim was to provide translation scholars from various academic centres with an opportunity to share experiences, discuss methodological questions and contextualize particular case studies within a wider panorama of translation histories. The seminar was opened by a keynote lecture, An Interdisciplinary Approach to Translation History by Prof. Christopher Rundle of the University of Bologna, and was attended by 22 researchers.
The seminar was a closed discussion based on presentations and previous readings. The issues discussed during the two intensive days included the status of the translation researcher as a historian, planning and conducting wide-ranging translation history projects, as well as analysing translation practices during World War II and under totalitarian systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Utilising digital humanities in research on translation history and reconstructing translator biographies turned out to be among the most pressing matters. The presentations covered translations from and into languages such as Croatian, Czech, English, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian.
The seminar’s long-term results concern cooperation on technological solutions for creating digital databases and archives and sharing a database of research materials and literature.
The seminar was funded by the Jagiellonian University Excellence Initiative and the Digital Humanities Lab.