The Politics of Polyglossia

Mon, May 6, 2013

10:00 AM

Click here to listen to the Chinese Writers, Global Audiences panel.

Click here to listen to the Reading Texts in New Contexts panel.

Click here to listen to Model or Mirror?: Reception of American Literature in Japan.

Click here to listen to the Digital Polyglossias panel.

Does the transposition of words from one language to another – the shift of a text between contexts – change not only the work translated, but its political implications, the fate of its author, the political situation of the country or culture from which it emerged, or the one in which its translation is published? This symposium will convene several panels to assess these questions from a variety of perspectives. Participants to include Croatian theorist and translator Darija Zilic, scholar and translator Patrick Greaney, scholar, writer and translator Wen Huang, translator and web entrepreneur Bhakti Shringarpure, co-founder of the on-line magazine Warscapes.com, and poet and free speech activistLarry Siems of PEN American Center. Panels will address translation and transgression, the future of digital polyglossia, the impact of translation and international recognition on human rights and freedom of speech in China, and “other Russias” — the Russian 20th century from the perspectives of Cuba and the Arab World. Keynote Speaker:Motoyuki Shibata.

10:00 a.m. Chinese Writers, Global Audiences: Translation, Human Rights and Free Speech in China, with Wen Huang, Larry Siems and Jeffrey Yang.

As writers in China gain worldwide reception, does that aid the cause of freedom of speech within China?

Click here to listen to the Chinese Writers, Global Audiences panel.

11:30 a.m. Words from Afar: Reading Texts in New Contexts, with Ammiel Alcalay, Darija Zilic, Patrick Greaney.

Texts in translation are read very differently than in their language of origin. Three translators discuss the contextual impact of politically controversial work.

Click here to listen to the Reading Texts in New Contexts panel.

1:30 p.m. Keynote address: Model or Mirror?: Reception of American Literature in Japan, Motoyuki Shibata

Click here to listen to Model or Mirror?: Reception of American Literature in Japan.

2:30 p.m. Digital Polyglossias, with Maite Junco, Bakhti Shringarpure and Joshua Mandelbaum

Leaders from three independent digital media hubs that use English as a vehicular language compare modes of cross-cultural exchange.

Click here to listen to the Digital Polyglossias panel.

4:00 p.m. Other Russias, with Jacqueline Loss and Margaret Litvin, moderated by José Manuel Prieto.

Loss’s studies “the Cuban-Soviet Imaginary,” while Litvin researches ties between the Soviet Union and Arab countries.


Cosponsored by the Transculturation Seminar in the Humanities.

Additional funding provided by Amazon.com

Participants

***seminar*** & Presentation

Translation Seminar: Susan Bernofsky

Wed, Feb 10, 2016
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM