CALL FOR PAPERS
Spring Issue: 9.1 (2017)
TranscUlturAl: A Journal of Translation and Cultural Studies
Translation and Performance
This issue seeks to bring together scholars interested in exploring the general theme of translation
and performance from domains such as theatre, music and cinema. We welcome a variety of
approaches—cultural, historical, linguistic, literary, political, social—directly related to relevant
disciplines in the following non-exhaustive list: performance studies; language arts; audiovisual
translation; drama studies; musicology; adaptation studies. Proposals for innovative forms of
delivery (explicitly performative, interactive, dialogue, informal panels, etc.) are of great interest
to the organizing committee!
Translation itself can be viewed as performative in how it reveals hidden facets of both
source and target cultures. This has been noted in the translation of poetry, for example, where
poetic personas might perform cultural, social or even political identities that present fascinating
challenges. Also challenging, but in even more complex ways, is translation in the performing
arts: since those are multimodal, attention must be paid to not only the linguistic aspect but also
non-verbal dimensions such as gesture, facial expression, image, movement, visual perspective,
sound, timing, or lighting. In this way, opera translation involves more than libretti and surtitles,
song translation more than poetry, drama translation more than dialogue, and film translation
more than the constraints dictated by the choice of dubbing or subtitling.
Topics could include relations and transfer between music and text, or between sound and
image; the concept of translation beyond language; performing arts considered as languages in
their own right; a questioning of the boundaries between translation and adaptation; rewriting of
song lyrics; how sacred are plays; the role of dramaturgs in drama translation; relations between
performer and audience; surtitling in drama; differences between translating for the film industry
and for television; dialect translation, and so much more. Contributors may choose to present case
studies, discuss salient issues, or formulate the prolegomena for new theories, to suggest only a
few possibilities!
Complete papers (8000 words maximum; MLA 7th Edition) are due February 1, 2017, along
with a short bio and an abstract in English. TranscUlturAl accepts papers written in English,
French, German and Spanish. Please send your submission directly to Anne Malena
([log in to unmask]) or upload them on the journal’s site (address below) after registering.
http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/TC