WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Faculty of Letters and Arts
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, and the Center for Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Studies are proud to invite you to the Writers and Translators international conference to take place between the 25th and 27th of April, 2018 in Sibiu, Romania. The conference is part of a cultural project that consists of a series of events organized around contemporary writers in translation and the way they shape cultural environments through their work. Our university prides itself on having initiated a tradition of facilitating meetings between writers and their readers by organizing projects that have starred authors such as Irvine Welsh, and co-organizing two annual poetry festivals which have featured established poets such as Robert Pinsky and Lloyd Schwartz, alongside emerging ones like Sam Riviere and Crispin Best. Besides connecting writers to their readers and university students, our project aims to bring forward relevant issues for the current socio-cultural context through debates and roundtables on topics such as history and fiction, politics and literature, the social and cultural integration of minorities, gender equality, and the role of the writer in the public sphere.
The conference will focus on the subject of translation from and into Romanian and on general translation theory. Since today’s academia debates mainly the role of translation in transnational literary theory and in general globalization theory, our conference aims to discuss the role of translation within the contemporary literary field and also in the general social and cultural development of different regions. At the same time, it raises awareness of the way Romanian culture and literature develop and adapt to the new global frame.
CONFERENCE MAIN PROGRAM
Keynote Speakers (25th of April, 17:00-19:00)
ROMANIAN WRITERS IN GERMAN TRANSLATION
Georg AESCHT (Germany)
Stefan SIENERTH (Germany)
with the participation of Romanian writer Gabriela ADAMEȘTEANU
chair: Professor Maria SASS,
Professor Andrei TERIAN
Parallel sessions (26th of April, 8:00-11:00)
GERMAN AND SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE IN THEORY
chair: Professor Maria SASS,
Associate Professor Doris SAVA
1.Nadjib SADIKOU (PhD, Flensburg, Germany):
Interkulturalität und ›Wir-Phantasmen‹ in Europa. Überlegungen aus kultur- und literaturwissenschaftlicher Sicht.
Interculturalitate şi „fantasme pentru noi“ în Europa. Unele consideraṭii din punct de vedere cultural şi literar.
Im Zuge der weltweiten Transnationalisierung und Globalisierung scheint eine plausible Koexistenz von Menschen in der gegenwärtigen Migrationsgesellschaft nur unter den Bedingungen (inter-) kultureller Vielfalt realisierbar zu sein. Dennoch wird gleichzeitig das große Erstarken von Rechtpopulismus in Gestalt radikaler ›Ihr- und Wir-Phantasmen‹ bedrohlicher. Europa, so könnte man als Prämisse formulieren, befindet sich derzeit zwischen Heimat- und Fremdheitsvorstellungen, zwischen ›weichen‹ Strategien der Inklusion, der sozialen Teilhabe einerseits und ›härteren‹ Taktiken von Zugehörigkeitsmonopolen sowie Exklusion von vermeintlichen „Andersgläubigen“ oder „Migranten“ andererseits. Vor diesem Hintergrund will der geplante Beitrag zunächstin Anlehnung an einigen kulturwissenschaftlichen Ansätzen (Edouard Glissant, Arjun Appadurai und Bernhard Waldenfels) einige Faktoren einer ›offenen‹(inter-)kulturellen Vielfalt diskutieren. Sodann wird am Beispiel des Romans So tun, als ob es regnet der deutsch-rumänischen Autorin Iris Wolff analysiert, wie Wertewelten und Heimatvorstellungen durch eine „grenzenlose Bildsprache“ reflektiert werden.
2. Johannes TEICHMANN (MA Student, Viena, Austria):
Vorkämpfer der literarischen Moderne? Adolf Meschendörfer (1877 – 1963) und sein Roman Leonore. Precursor al modernismului literar? Scriitorul de expresie germană din România Adolf Meschendörfer şi romanul său, Leonore.
Bis zum Ausbruch des 1. Weltkrieges versuchte der Kronstädter Schriftsteller und spätere Direktor des Honterus-Gymnasiums Adolf Meschendörfer verschiedentlich, dem rückständigen siebenbürgisch-deutschen Kunst- und Kulturbetrieb moderne Impulse zu geben. Als Sprachrohr diente ihm dazu u.a. die von ihm herausgegebene Zeitschrift Die Karpathen (1907 – 1914), in der – anonymisiert und in Fortsetzungen – auch der Roman Leonore. Roman eines nach Siebenbürgen Verschlagenenin den Jahren 1907/08erstmals veröffentlicht wurde.Sowohl die formale als auch die inhaltliche Konzeption des Romans können als prototypisch für die „Literarische Moderne“ angesehen werden, wobei insbesondere dieFigur des fiktiven Ich-Erzählers Svend bemerkenswert ist, welche denkulturellen Missionarseifer des Autors und die Widersprüchlichkeiten des Fin de Siècle in sich vereinigt.
3. Ovio OLARU (PhD Student) (UBB Cluj-Napoca, Romania):
Building Identity: The German-Turkish Literature as Transnational Model for Europe Construirea identităţii: Literatura turco-germană ca model transnaţional pentru Europa
This presentation aims to shed light on different aspects of transnationalism and transnational literature in the context of contemporary German cultural space. The context of German post-war literature, as well as the changes that German society underwent through globalization and the importation of Turkish work-force will be hereby taken into consideration. The different ways in which the German literary canon has changed under the influence of its transnational authors have inspired a transnational model, whose applicability within Romanian literary tradition will come under our scrutiny. The history and unfolding of die Rumäniendeutsche Literatur will therefore also be investigated, in trying to pursue a common approach to transnational phenomena and illustrate the universalist ambitions of transnationalism.
4. Ştefana POPA (PhD Student) (UBB Cluj-Napoca):
Translating contemporary Norwegian literature. A comparative analysis of Karl Ove Knausgård and Tomas Espedal.
Traducerea literaturii norvegiene contemporane. O analiză comparativă intre Karl Ove Knausgård și Tomas Espedal.
The small number of literary translations from Norwegian to Romania stands as evidence for the complications this process involves. The present paper aims at investigating the actual aspects that may explain the dynamics of transferring and adapting a text from the Scandinavian culture to its Romanian counterpart. Starting from the analysis of two important Norwegian writers (Karl Ove Knausgård and Tomas Espedal) the interest of this research lies in emphasizing not only the differences that set these two authors apart, but also the reasons that might justify the lack of Tomas Espedal`s books being translated to Romanian, as compared to Karl Ove Knausgård’s.
TRANSNATIONAL STUDIES AND TRANSLATION THEORY
chair: Associate Professor Ana-Karina SCHNEIDER,
Associate Professor Rareș MOLDOVAN
5. Emanuel Modoc (PhD Student, UBB Cluj-Napoca):
Travelling Avant-Gardes. The Case of Futurism in Romania
Avangarda călătoare. Cazul futurismului în România
The present paper aims to investigate, by means of quantitative research, the reception of futurism in the Romanian cultural space of the first half of the twentieth century. By analysing the transnational network of the futurist manifestoes in a localised, national circuit through rapid text translation and dissemination, the study closely follows the main temporal milestones of the reception of futurism in Romania (from its earliest occurrence to its explosion in the 1930s following Marinetti’s visit to Romania) in order to demonstrate the full extent of the impact of the artistic movement in Romanian literary journalism. At the same time, by borrowing Edward Said’s concept of “traveling theory” (from his well-known essay published in 1982), the study also tries to propose the idea of a “traveling avant-garde”, materialised through F. T. Marinetti’s personal brand of cultural entrepreneurship that led to such a rich reception in a country that had no discernible futurist movement.
6. Anca Simina Martin (Teaching Assistant, ULBS):
Romanian Subtitling and Fansubbing of Sexual Language in TV Sitcoms: A Translational Perspective
Subtitrarea oficială și neoficială în limba română a termenilor licenţioşi din sitcom-uri TV: O perspectivă traductologică
Subtitling in Romania, a subbing stronghold surrounded by dubbing countries, is a phenomenon yet to be studied thoroughly by the autochthonous academia. Amateur subtitling or fansubbing, despite its prevalence among the younger generations, has been barely touched upon. What this paper aims to achieve is to shed a light on the manner in which these two audiovisual translation solutions have evolved in this geographic context with a view to highlighting professional and amateur subtitlers’ approach to translating bawdy words and phrases in popular American sitcoms. By doing so, the present article seeks to pave the way for much-needed research into this new area of study in the Romanian translation studies literature and to elicit academic interest in how official and unofficial autochthonous subtitlers of Anglo-American motion pictures tackle instances of language that bring about moral and translational challenges.
7. Alexandru Văsieş (PhD Student, UBB Cluj-Napoca):
Maximalist Narratives in the Second Half of the 20th Century: Context, Limits, Distinctions Regarding the Translations in the Romanian Cultural Space After the 90s
Narațiuni maximaliste din a doua jumătate a secolului 20: context, limite, diferențe ale traducerilor în spațiul românesc postdecembrist
The presentation tackles the subject of maximalist narratives written in the second half of the 20th century through a comparative lens, trying to articulate the characteristics of each form included in this category. Analyzing some of the maximalist narratives translated in Romanian (and arguably the lack of certain representative titles of this genre), the purpose of the presentation is to emphasize the particularities of these books through a translational perspective, in relation to the Romanian publishing strategies. Moreover, this research aims to point out the potential conceptual innovations which can appear in the Romanian theoretical space due to the utilization of an external conceptual frame.
8. Cătălina Stanislav (MA Student, ULBS)
Explicit Language in Translation. An Analysis based on Male vs. Female Authored Novels
Abstract: Erotic scenes in literature tend to be rather male-dominated experiences and there seem to be notable differences in what regards the portraying of sexual acts, depending on the gender the author identifies with. This is also true of any explicit language (i.e. swearing and violence in language) in novels. This paper sets out to analyze not only why these differences occur, but also if they occur when said novels are translated (from English to Romanian, in this case). I will take into consideration both the gender of each books’ author and the gender of the translator. I have selected a number of novels from different genres (literary fiction, sci-fi, crime/mystery, cult novels, LGBTQ novels), written both by female and male authors, for the purpose of also establishing if there are any discrepancies in writing and translating when it comes to different genres of literature.
Plenary Session (27th of April, 10:00-13:00)
MODERNISM IN TRANSLATION (Mallarmé, Artaud, Joyce, Pound)
Cristian FULAŞ
Translating Stephan Mallarmé
Bogdan GHIU
Translating Antonin Artaud
Rareş MOLDOVAN
Translating James Joyce
Radu VANCU
Translating Ezra Pound
chair: Teaching Assistant Ştefan BAGHIU,
PhD Student Vlad POJOGA
Organizing committee:
Professor Maria Sass
Professor Andrei Terian
Teaching Assistant Ştefan Baghiu
Teaching Assistant Iulia Elena Gîţă
PhD Student Vlad Pojoga
Associate Professor Ana-Karina Schneider