2nd International e-Conference on Translation
TRANSLATION, MEDIATION AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES
Universidad de Córdoba - Leibniz Universität Hannover
24 and 25 September 2020
Deadline for submission of abstracts extended until 31 May 2020
Call for Papers
In an increasingly globalised world, monolingual societies are becoming extremely rare, as states, mainly in urban areas (Meylaerts and González Núñez 2017, 5–6), present a growing linguistic diversity both in northern and southern countries (United Nations 2017, 1). Alongside autochthonous linguistic minorities, which shift between the loss of native speakers and language revalorisation or revitalisation processes, an increasing number of foreign-speaking minorities coexist who have their origin in migrations, forced migrations and refugee processes. People with disabilities, be it sensorial or cognitive, also contribute to the increase of linguistic heterogeneity and in our view represent another kind of linguistic minority, being as they are speakers of sign languages or users of texts linguistically or medially adapted.
In this context, linguistic mediation activities – whether translation or interpreting – are key to the social inclusion of any kind of linguistic minority. Given that any language policy implies an explicit or implicit policy of linguistic mediation (Meylaerts 2012, 744; Meylaerts and González Núñez 2017, 3), governments at the regional, state and international level can play a decisive role in providing translation and interpreting services for different population groups.
Linguistic mediation services are currently regulated under a number of national and international laws (González Núñez 2013). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, for example, recognise the right to an interpreter in court settings, although the enforcement of this right and the degree of professionalism required of interpreters vary enormously from one country to another and depend on the language community in need of these services (Ozolins 2010). Likewise, the ratification of the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006 by different countries set the legal grounds for easy-to-read translations (Leichte Sprache, in German) of official texts (legal, administrative, medical, etc.) (Bredel and Maaß 2016, 69) and encouraged other private entities to provide easy-to-read texts (literature, news media, etc.).
However, despite the ratification of certain laws acknowledging (or not) such rights, many states do not guarantee the provision of linguistic mediation services (Ozolins 2010). This is the case of Spain, where initiatives such as the simplification of legal language (Ministerio de Justicia, 2011) or the right to interpretation in criminal procedures (Directive 2010/64/EU) have been in place for years but not applied in an effective way.
In this changing context, the 2nd International e-Conference on Translation, Mediation and Accessibility for Linguistic Minorities aims to explore new models that challenge the traditional notion of bilingualism (translanguaging, polylanguaging, heteroglossia, etc.) and integrate novel approaches in foreign language learning and teaching, translation, interpreting and other related fields. More specifically, we aim to address linguistic mediation in a broad sense for, of, between and from any kind of language minorities. We agree with Cronin’s statement (1998) that the survival and refusal of the ghetto demands the presence of minority languages through translation, not only in literature but in all areas of life and disciplines.
This conference welcomes proposals related but not limited to the following issues:
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Translation and interpreting for language minorities
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Translation and interpreting in minority languages
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Translation and interpreting in sign languages
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Public service interpreting
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Translation and interpreting for migrants, asylum-seekers and exiled persons
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Intralinguistic translation and interpreting: leichte Sprache, easy-to-read, lectura fácil, einfache Sprache, Plain Language, lenguaje claro, Schriftdolmetschen, speech-to-text interpretation
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Audiovisual translation and accessibility: subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, audio description, inclusive museums and theatres, etc.
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Teaching: linguistic mediation activities in Spanish as a foreign language and other foreign languages
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Translanguaging, polylanguaging, heteroglossia
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Language policies and language ideologies
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Indigenous languages and linguistic revitalisation
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Migration linguistics
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Middle and Far East languages and migration
Submissions are invited for 20-minute presentations in English or Spanish. Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words (excluding references). Please submit your abstract including the title of the paper, author name, affiliation and e-mail address to:
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pilar.castillo.bernal@uco.es
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marta.estevez.grossi@romanistik.phil.uni-hannover.de
Selected papers will be published in an edited volume following a peer-review process.
Participants who wish to attend the conference can also register at the abovementioned addresses until the conference date. The fee for attendance only is €5.
Dates:
- Conference: 24 and 25 September 2020
- Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 May 2020
- Notification of acceptance: 30 June 2020
- Deadline for submission of Power Point presentations (PDF files) or video-recorded presentations (mp4 files): 1 September 2020
- Technical test for speakers: 2-23 September 2020
- Deadline for submission of articles: 1 December 2020
References: