"Translation: Negotiating Between Global and Local"

American Comparative Literature Association, Harvard, March 26-29, 2009

In our increasingly globalized world we are constantly confronted with the opposition of the "local" versus the "global." The emphasis generally placed on a "global community" (or "village") often obscures or homogenizes local customs, beliefs, world views, languages and literatures, although, at the same time, it may also be necessary for the survival of the local to be articulated in global modes of expression, which simultaneously spread and change local identities. The promise of a global village is based on the idea that individual, local identities will all come together in a bigger umbrella context that will still respect and foster individual differences. However, one cannot ignore the fact that not all local entities are treated equally and have equal say in the contruction of what is to be considered global, which is, in a sense, more an extension of powerful local interests than a harmonious global utopia.

Translation studies is an optimal area in which to reflect upon this dichotomy between the local and the global considering that translating is generally seen as an act of rewriting something local for an audience other than the one for which it was supposedly written. In other words, the promise of translation, like that of the global village, is to transform the local into something global, or something that can speak outside of its proper context.

This panel welcomes papers that explore how translation studies can help us theorize, problematize, highlight, and/or bridge this dichotomy with all the tensions that it entails. For example, papers could address questions such as (but not limited to) the following: can translation truly "bridge gaps" between different cultures anad languages, or between the local and the global? How do the asymmetric power relations that have created so-called "dominant" and "minor" languages play into the dichotomy of the local/global? How does translation perpetuate and/or highlight these inequalities, and conversely, how could it be used as a mechanism of resistance? What role does the importation of foreign influences that is translation play in the creation of local identities, or how does translation participate in the very process of designating the "local" and the "global"?

To submit paper proposals, please follow the instruction on the ACLA website.

Contact: Ben Van Wyke, Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis