Audiovisual Translation and Minority Cultures
International Conference
Sponsored by CenTras (Centre for Translation Studies @UCL – UK), AIA
(Italian Association for English Studies) and CUSVE (The University
Centre for Victorian and Edwardian Studies)
Museo delle Genti d’Abruzzo
Pescara, 3-4 June 2022
Call for Papers
Within translation studies, minority has been the concern of scholars
and translators whose interest has focused on language varieties
(dialects, registers, styles, and discourses) linked to cultures that
occupy subordinate positions in social formations, or what J.C.
Catford defines as “states of language, ethnicity or sex with their
own ghetto territorialities” (1987: 106). Minority languages and
cultures challenge dominant, homogenising systems by posing resistance
in the form of innovation, particularly when considered within the
framework of our globalised world. This two-day conference aims to
explore the unpredictable linguistic and cultural variations that
minority might introduce in the study of audiovisual translation. We
want to consider not only the uses of nonstandard linguistic items,
multilingualism, and minor languages in audiovisual media, but also
the range of cultural, social, and political issues raised by such
uses, especially when affiliated with minor cultures. If we side with
Abé Mark Nornes’s view that “to the extent that skilled translators
disregard conventional practices and creatively work through
translation problems – both typical ones and those arising from the
specificities of dubbing and subtitling – the outlook and
possibilities for moving image translation are both hopeful and
intriguing” (Nornes 2007: 16), how might the study and practice of
audiovisual translation be reformulated in relation to minorities in
the 21st century?
We particularly invite contributions that encourage interdisciplinary
discussions between scholars and translators about how audiovisual
media can give voice to voiceless cultures and how such media might
redefine the identity and role of the translator in the 21st century.
Suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Standard vs. nonstandard language varieties, multilingualism, and
minor languages in audiovisual translation
• Audiovisual translation and the formation of identity
• Translation activism in today’s global media landscape
• The social and political implications of translating humour in
audiovisual material
• Dubbing and subtitling in world cinema understood as relations
between film cultures positioned in global hierarchies, major and
minor, central and peripheral
• The Cinema of Minorities: Film adaptation and minority cultures
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Jorge Díaz-Cintas (University College London – UK)
Mona Baker (Oslo University – Norway)
Delia Chiaro (University of Bologna – ITALY)
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS (20 minutes)
Please attach a single document including:
• Title and abstract of your proposal (300 words max.)
• 5 keywords
• Author’s name, affiliation, email address and biography (100 words max.)
Deadline for submissions: 7th May 2022
Conference fee: 150 EUR (standard) / 80 EUR (student) by 19th May 2022
All questions and submissions should be emailed to Eleonora Sasso (“G.
d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara) to the following address:
avt-minoritycultures@unich.it
