The Work of the Literary Translator: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Politics
2025 Burdick-Vary symposium organized by Professor Anne C. Vila, senior fellow (2021–2025), Institute for Research in the Humanities
Translation—especially literary translation—is a tool and an art that may seem obsolete and unnecessary in the world we live in. In an environment that claims to be global and transnational, and that values rapid communication and maximum efficiency, it might be tempting to transfer the labor of translation to artificial intelligence. However, literary translation is, at its best, a highly creative act that remains beneficial, indeed crucial: it allows readers to become familiar with fundamental works of literature; it exemplifies linguistic and cultural diversity; it creates bridges with lesser-known languages; and it gives access to unknown or overlooked works. For poets and other writers who are translators themselves, the encounter with a linguistic or poetic “other” might also open a path to poetic (self)-discovery. Translation is also central to many areas of scholarship, particularly those that explore the ways in which words, ideas, and literary styles “migrate” across national, cultural, and institutional boundaries.
This one-day symposium aims to bring together a group of translators and scholars who reflect on the act and challenges of translation. Taking the global Francophone and Italophone contexts as a point of departure, we welcome contributions that explore the issue of translation in general terms or that focus on specific case studies.
This event will address questions such as these:
- What is literary translation and why is it relevant today?
- How has the practice of translation evolved over time and across the world?
- What is a “good” translation?
- How can we imagine the future of literary translation? To what extent will the new technologies impact the craft of the literary translator?
- What are the ethical and aesthetic implications of literary translation?
- What sorts of politics does literary translation entail?
- To what extent do existing theories of translation illuminate our understanding of specific translations? To what extent can they be challenged?
Event co-sponsored by:
The Institute for Research in the Humanities, the Department of French & Italian.
Event details and location information to follow.