Second symposium: Helsinki 2011

”Words and Worlds: Transculturalism, Translation, Identity”

Questions of language, narrative, and identity are in the core of transcultural writing and inform issues of representation and self-expression. While earlier research has often emphasised the role of different englishes in constructing post-colonial identity and literature/orature continuum, it has also been pointed out that the presence of indigenous languages and modes of expression in the post-colonial text also signals notions of resistance to the language of the colonizer and questions the translatability of experience. By operating in at least two linguistic and aesthetic systems, the transcultural text and its hybridity urge us to develop new methodologies for analysing such phenomena. Apart from the practical acts linked with translation, the term also describes the formation of cultural identity, i.e., its translation/transformation into hybridity, and invites theoretical and philosophical approaches, as well as papers dealing with research methodology. The papers may address questions and issues as follows:

·         In what ways do the language(s) of transcultural texts construct cultural and national identities in various multilingual contexts?

·         Can we develop new methodologies for addressing the presence of various languages and conceptual systems in transcultural texts?

·         What are the possibilities and limitations of context-oriented close reading?

·         What is the relationship between linguistic and literary creolization/hybridization?

·         How does the transcultural enter the acts of translating and mediating literature?

·         Translation and Rewriting

·         Translated Identities in Transcultural Texts

·         Translation in the Global Space

This seminar will be arranged in the following manner. To ease discussion, the symposium will follow a seminar format where the emphasis will be on discussion and commentary in smaller seminars. The submission of papers takes place in two phases.

First, all participants are expected to submit a short abstract (max. 500 words) on their topic to Jopi Nyman (jopi.nyman@uef.fi) by *13 March 2011*.

The deadline for submitting a more substantial extended abstract (1,500-2,000 words) to be distributed to seminar participants before the meeting is *1 August 2011*.

Please note that participants will be divided into smaller discussion groups on the basis of their interests. There will also be talks by invited guest speakers.

The symposium will take place at Hotel Arthur (http://www.hotelarthur.fi) in the centre of Helsinki and is expected to start at ca. 10 am on Friday 26 Aug. 2011. Further information on travel arrangements will follow in due course. The organizers will book the rooms for the participants.

Further information on the network seminar can be obtained from Jopi Nyman, School of Humanities, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus, jopi.nyman@uef.fi