LINGUIST List 15.2124

Thu Jul 22 2004

Calls: Translation/London, Ontario, Canada

Editor for this issue: Andrea Berez <andrealinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. marco.fiola, Canadian Association of Translation Studies Annual Conference

Canadian Association of Translation Studies Annual Conference 
Short Title: CATS Annual Conference 

Date: 26-May-2005 - 29-May-2005
Location: London, Ontario, Canada
Contact: Marco A. Fiola
Contact Email: marco.fiolauqo.ca 
Meeting URL: http://www.uottawa.ca/associations/act-cats/Eng/congress/call_papers.htm 

Linguistic Sub-field: Translation 

Call Deadline: 15-Sep-2004 


Meeting Description:

Ethics and the Social Value of Translation

Ethics and the Social Value of Translation/L'�thique et la dimension
sociale de la traduction

Translators' (and interpreters') ethics and the social role of
translation (and interpretation) are a source of interest and concern
for translation scholars. While ethics may be the art of conducting
oneself with respect to oneself and others, it is comparatively more
relevant for translators because it touches on several aspects of
their work. Historically, faithfulness has been used to assess the
quality of translators' work as much as their social
role. Faithfulness is then assessed regarding the author the
translator is representing; then regarding the readership the
translator is representing; finally, with respect to translation as a
profession and to the rules that govern it. However, there is much
more to ethics than the single issue of faithfulness.

According to Anthony Pym, the translator's ethics concerns first and
foremost the way in which the translator establishes the social and
intercultural relationships that determine his or her
practice. Therefore, the translator is a responsible professional
whose duty it is to carry out an intercultural mission of
co-operation. For Antoine Berman, ethics tends to affirm and defend
the aim of the translation and to define the idea of ''faithfulness.''
What he suggests is an ethics aimed at openness, dialogue and merging
the Self and the Other, instead of promoting a reductionist,
appropriating and ethnocentric approach.

Furthermore, any professional rule established at any given time can
only be seen as part of deontology, which is different from ethics
while being closely related to it.

It is these parameters and the rules imposed upon translators by
society and the profession that put them in the position of having to
make choices (the first one being whether or not to translate) which
will affect the reader's perception of the author and the translated
text, the author's perception of the translator and the reader, but
also, and maybe most of all, the translator�Euro(tm)s perception of
the author and the reader.

Supported or hindered by these parameters, translators cannot ignore
their role as agents of social change. If ethics focuses on the
practice of translation, on the dialogue with the Other, on social
accountability and intercultural co-operation, it also calls upon
translators' moral duty and should lead them to personal and
professional fulfillment. Therefore, one can ask the following
questions:

Are ethics and social duty compatible?

Is the ethics of translation the same an as ethics of intercultural
communication?

Is it possible to echo what Pym wrote and affirm that there is a clear
demarcation between deontology and the ethics of the translator?

These questions can also be considered from the point of view of many
fields of study: feminism, post-colonialism, queer power,
multiculturalism and social integration, preservation of national
identities, theories of translation, history, teaching and assessment
of translating competence (savoir-�tre).

Dates indicated are approximate. Firm dates will be posted on the
website as soon as they become available.

For further information, check the website at :
http://www.uottawa.ca/associations/act-cats/Eng/congress/call_papers.htm

Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements, consultez le site Web de
l'Association � l'adresse suivante :
http://www.uottawa.ca/associations/act-cats/Fra/congres/appel.htm