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Afrikaans Department hosts international conferences focused on translation and interpreting
Author: Lynne Rippenaar-Moses
Published: 24/05/2018

Two international conferences focused on interpreting and translation studies are being hosted by the Afrikaans and Dutch Department by the Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation (NPIT4) organisation from 22 to 24 May 2018 and the Association for Translation Studies in Africa (ATSA) from 25-26 May.

Both conferences are held at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) at Stellenbosch University (SU).

According to Prof Harold Lesch, a lecturer in Interpreting and Afrikaans Linguistics and the main organiser of the NPIT4 conference, the NPIT4 “provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners within the field of interpreting and translation studies to share recent and relevant work within this discipline and related to the activities of non-professional interpreters and translators".

The conference will build on previous international discussions regarding interpreting and translation offered by non-professional interpreters and translators which were initiated by the organisation in Bologna in 2012, in Mainz in 2015 and in Zurich in 2016. This year the conference will focus on Finding a balance between required skills and available resources in non-professional interpreting and translation.

“As a language intermediary certain skills are required, but in the case of non-professionals these skills can be absent or there could be a lack thereof but nevertheless a service is being provided – dare I say a functional service. The divide between a first and second economy is prevalent in the African context and the practice of non-professional language intermediaries proves to have a role to play. In the same vein people are flocking to affluent countries, also to SA from other African countries and extended communication, extended due to the service of an interpreter – as opposed to a linear communication – is an everyday reality. The language combinations also bring its own challenges," says Lesch.

Some of the topics to be addressed during the three-day conference, include defining and mapping the field of non-professional interpreting and translation; ad hoc interpreting and translation in everyday life; language brokering by family members (oral, written or sign language); non-professional sign language interpreting; and interdisciplinary approaches to research in non-professional interpreting and translation.

“Interpreting in itself is an age-old practice. Within the context of the recent past, emphasis was placed on the professional interpreter and translator. However, one is of the opinion that the role of the non-professional language intermediary is also a source for research and empirical studies. The term non-professional brings its own ramifications to the topic, but in essence, it refers to a non-trained, semi-trained or unpaid language practitioner. This is in contradiction to the professionally trained and experienced interpreter. One is of the opinion that there is room for both within our context," adds Lesch.

Keynote speakers will include Prof Cecilia Wadensjö,  Professor of Interpreting and Translation Studies at The Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies in the Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism at Stockholm University; Prof Leslie Swartz, a clinical psychologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at SU; and Prof Maria Tymoczko, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

The ATSA conference, which starts on Friday, 25 May, will be the first official conference of the association and will focus on Translation and context: Perspectives on and from Africa. ATSA was founded in 2016 in Nairobi with SU's Prof Ilse Feinauer as a founding member. The conference in Stellenbosch was planned at the founding meeting to coincide with SU's centenary celebrations as well as Africa Day.

“To consider Africa as a context, one could conceptualise Africa from a number of perspectives. In translation studies, a postcolononial perspective and political-culture perspective, could be used, to name only two. Researchers could also use alternative conceptual perspectives from which to study translation," says Feinauer, who is the Vice Dean: Languages in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and  Professor in Translation Studies and Afrikaans Linguistics in the Department. 

“Recent work in conceptualising the relationship between translation and development would be one option. It also seems that many options exist for sociological studies as not much has been written about translation in Africa from a sociological perspective. Translation studies scholars have also not yet explored the economy, in particular the informal economy, as a discussion partner for translation studies. Tapping into the oral culture of Africa may open further avenues. Lastly, the teaching of translation and interpreting in Africa in response to the contextual constraints that the context set is an avenue that warrants exploration," adds Feinauer who is also the convenor of the ATSA conference. 

According to Feinauer, delegates from countries all over Africa including Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania as well as persons from countries such asBelgium, Canada, Switzerland, and the UK will attend the conference. Some of the topics to be discussed are theoretical work on context and universalism in translation studies, including the implications of continentalism; conceptualisations of translation as influenced by Africa as context; empirical data on translation and interpreting practices in Africa; and comparing data from Africa with data from other contexts.

“The conference will be followed by the 5thSchool for PhD students in Translation Studies in Africa from 28 May until 1 June. The guest professor will be Prof Tymoczko from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I want to specifically thank Stellenbosch University for the Africa Collaboration Grant  that covered most of the costs for both the ATSA conference and the PhD School."