This seminar will explore the emerging field of translator studies.  The field is characterised by a number of methodological approaches: historical-biographical studies, social-scientific and process-oriented methods. We will examine questions of identity, role, self, posture, habitus, and voice. We will draw on new texts published by translators which reflect on their lived experience as translators. 

Seminar 1: Introduction to translator studies: this seminar will examine the emergence of the field of translator studies. It will demonstrate how “exploring the cultural, social, psychological, and cognitive facets of translatorial subjects contributes to a holistic understanding of translation” (Literary Translator Studies, 2021).

Seminar 2: The Lady Translator: this seminar will examine the persistence of the “lady translator” posture, examining it from a historical perspective before studying contemporary texts such as This Little Art, (Kate Briggs, Fitzcarraldo, 2017) and Sur les bouts de la langue: traduire en féministe/s, ( Noémie Grunenwald, La Contreallée, 2021).

Seminar 3: Translator biographies: this seminar will examine the methodology employed in translator biographies, focusing on emerging projects such as the biography of Barbara Bray, and outlining the nodal function of translators within the field of reception studies.