Next Workshop : March 27th and 28th 2008,
Paris : "Translations and Cultural Transfer" (France and Great Britain
in the Long Eighteenth Century)
The question of language is central to our reflections on cultural transfer, all the more so in a group who work on English Texts and English spakers who work on French texts. The comprehension of a message formulated in a language which is not our mother-tongue is an operation that is always complex whatever our linguistic competency. This was even more the case for the eighteenth-century authors of Enlightenment concepts within Europe without really taking account of the mediation of the language in which they have been made.
This observation brings us first of all to the question of the teaching of living languages in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A topic on which only a few studies have been conducted (on grammars, the methodology of languages, institutions disequilibrium on this point between English and French. The latter was the language of elites in the eighteenth century and appears to have been taught relatively widely in the fundamental importance of which has recently been emphasised by Henri Meschonnic among others (H. Meschonnic, Poétique de la traduction, Paris, Verdier, 1999). It has been the object of a growing interest in France in recent years as is reflected in a series of colloquia and publications (A. Cointre, A. Rivara, La traduction romanesque au XVIIIe siècle, Arras, Artois Presses Université, 2003 ; A. Cointre, A. Rivara, La traduction des genres non romanesques au XVIIIe siècle, Metz, Université de Metz, 2003 ; M. Morini, Tudor Translation in Theory and Practice, Aldershot : Ashgate, 2006 ; P. Burke & R. Po-Chia Hsia - ed.-, Cultural Translation in Early Moderne Europe, Cambridge University Press, 2007).
This recent work allows us to sketch four principle strands to which the proposed contributions to the workshop could be related
1. The first is the study of the evolution of the principles and methods of translation - la traductologie - such as it appears in the essays devoted to it, often by first-rate authors, such as d'Alembert, but also by those of a lesser stature, such as Maximilien de Saint-Simon, or in the paratext of translations, in particularly in prefatory discourses.
2. The second strand concerns the genres that are translated. The main focus has, until recently, been on literary genres (theatre, poetry, tales...) and above all on novels (in particular by the Centre d'études des textes et des traductions de Metz). In reality, translations concerning the cultural production of the two countries, broadly understood - including political works, religion, medicine, and the sciences more generally, history, law, economy and even cookery ... are genres for which both general evaluations and individual studies still seem to be thin on the ground.
3. The third strand centres on the context of translations - the choice of the translator, the personality of the translators, the evaluation of their linguistic capacities, the role of the editor and beyond that the integration of translations into the commercial book market in the eighteenth century.
4. A fourth type of study focuses on the content itself of translations in the form of case studies ans attempts to demonstrate the effects that follow the process of translation.
Proposals must be sent to the organizers before November the 1st
rachel.hammersley@newcastle.ac.uk
e.dechamps@free.fr
francois_joseph_ruggiu@hotmail.com
5. The effect of such transfers on the construction of national identities throughout the century : the invention of a past, a language or a national history (e.g. Macpherson). It will be interesting to examine transfers in relation to mutual power play, wars and imperialist ambitions (e.g. Britain and Ireland / France, Britain and Ireland)
Proposals (title & abstract) must be sent by e-mail before 30 November 2007 to Lise Andriès (lise.andries@wanadoo.fr) AND to Frédéric Ogée (frederic.ogee@univ-paris-diderot.fr). Proposals for the 2009 and 2010 conferences can also be submitted.
The question of language is central to our reflections on cultural transfer, all the more so in a group who work on English Texts and English spakers who work on French texts. The comprehension of a message formulated in a language which is not our mother-tongue is an operation that is always complex whatever our linguistic competency. This was even more the case for the eighteenth-century authors of Enlightenment concepts within Europe without really taking account of the mediation of the language in which they have been made.
This observation brings us first of all to the question of the teaching of living languages in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A topic on which only a few studies have been conducted (on grammars, the methodology of languages, institutions disequilibrium on this point between English and French. The latter was the language of elites in the eighteenth century and appears to have been taught relatively widely in the fundamental importance of which has recently been emphasised by Henri Meschonnic among others (H. Meschonnic, Poétique de la traduction, Paris, Verdier, 1999). It has been the object of a growing interest in France in recent years as is reflected in a series of colloquia and publications (A. Cointre, A. Rivara, La traduction romanesque au XVIIIe siècle, Arras, Artois Presses Université, 2003 ; A. Cointre, A. Rivara, La traduction des genres non romanesques au XVIIIe siècle, Metz, Université de Metz, 2003 ; M. Morini, Tudor Translation in Theory and Practice, Aldershot : Ashgate, 2006 ; P. Burke & R. Po-Chia Hsia - ed.-, Cultural Translation in Early Moderne Europe, Cambridge University Press, 2007).
This recent work allows us to sketch four principle strands to which the proposed contributions to the workshop could be related
1. The first is the study of the evolution of the principles and methods of translation - la traductologie - such as it appears in the essays devoted to it, often by first-rate authors, such as d'Alembert, but also by those of a lesser stature, such as Maximilien de Saint-Simon, or in the paratext of translations, in particularly in prefatory discourses.
2. The second strand concerns the genres that are translated. The main focus has, until recently, been on literary genres (theatre, poetry, tales...) and above all on novels (in particular by the Centre d'études des textes et des traductions de Metz). In reality, translations concerning the cultural production of the two countries, broadly understood - including political works, religion, medicine, and the sciences more generally, history, law, economy and even cookery ... are genres for which both general evaluations and individual studies still seem to be thin on the ground.
3. The third strand centres on the context of translations - the choice of the translator, the personality of the translators, the evaluation of their linguistic capacities, the role of the editor and beyond that the integration of translations into the commercial book market in the eighteenth century.
4. A fourth type of study focuses on the content itself of translations in the form of case studies ans attempts to demonstrate the effects that follow the process of translation.
Proposals must be sent to the organizers before November the 1st
rachel.hammersley@newcastle.ac.uk
e.dechamps@free.fr
francois_joseph_ruggiu@hotmail.com
Call for papers
France-Great-Britain, Ireland : Cultural transfers and the circulation of knowledge in the Age of Enlightenment
The British, French and Irish Societies of Eighteenth-Century Studies are launching a joint research programme on the cultural transfers between their three countries in the Enlightenment period. Between 2008 and 2010, three international symposia will be held in succession in France (Paris), Great Britain and Ireland. A selection of the contributions will subsequently be published as the conclusion of the programpme.
A call for papers is thus launched for the first symposium, to be held at Université Paris-Diderot in September 2008. Beyond a mere comparative approach, it wil aim at starting an introductory exploration of the numerous issues at stake, such as, for instance :
1. The actors involved in the transfers, who could be called the 'importers' or 'purveyors' of foreign ideas and acted as cultural intermediaries, be they politicians or diplomats, mere travellers (Grand Tour), savants, authors, artists, etc. it will be intersting to examine the part played by institutions or more informal networks (e.g. the correspondance between the Royal Society and the Académie des Sciences)
2. The transfer of cultural items - books, newspapers, works of art, objects, etc. The role of booksellers and printers, and the importance of foreign titiles in the catalogue of private libraries should be looked at.
3. The transfer of literary, philosophical, political or aesthetic models in processes of cultural legitimization (e.g. garden art, Richardson's novels, the English political system, etc.). Such transfers may prove asymmetrical in intensity or time.
4. Transfer processes through imitation, translation, or adaptation5. The effect of such transfers on the construction of national identities throughout the century : the invention of a past, a language or a national history (e.g. Macpherson). It will be interesting to examine transfers in relation to mutual power play, wars and imperialist ambitions (e.g. Britain and Ireland / France, Britain and Ireland)
Proposals (title & abstract) must be sent by e-mail before 30 November 2007 to Lise Andriès (lise.andries@wanadoo.fr) AND to Frédéric Ogée (frederic.ogee@univ-paris-diderot.fr). Proposals for the 2009 and 2010 conferences can also be submitted.
