Author: Chiara Astrid Gebbia

On September 15, Sandra Halverson gave a talk for the start of the MA program in Janapese translation at the University of Bergen. The talk was titled “Translation and translation studies in Norway. Who, what, where?” and gave a brief overview of the landscape and development of the field of Translation Studies as a backdrop to describing the field’s current status in Norway.

In line with the theme of the symposium, she also discusses some characteristics of the practice of translation in Norway, contrasting the Norwegian case with the situation in many other European countries. The underlying theme of institutionalization provides a framework for the talk, which closes by discussing whether the anomaly identified in the talk matters, and if so, how.

The beginning of the Master’s program in Translation and Professional Communication was inaugurated on the 24th and 25th of August. The students were welcomed by Professor Sandra Louise Halverson and the Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, Tale Guldal.

Our research group is continuously active in developing the only dedicated MA in Translation in Norway. You can find out more about the program here.

Two members of our research group presented at the UCCTS 2023, which was held at the University of Poznań.

Sandra Halverson’s plenary talk (“Broadening the scope: the gravitational pull hypothesis in a usage-based theory of translation”) had the aim to merge the concept of the “gravitational pull hypothesis” with the one of “default translation” within the context of a usage-based theory of translation. The focal point of her exploration lay in understanding how specific linguistic attributes in the source language exert a profound influence on the target text choices, drawing parallels with the captivating pull of gravitational forces on objects.

Jūratė Žukauskaitė’s poster presentation, titled “Investigating the Role of Entrenchment in Source Language Interference during Simultaneous Interpreting”, discussed the influence of entrenched language patterns from the source language on the process of simultaneous interpreting.

Both presentations align with the theme of the conference, which focuses on the use of corpora in contrastive and translation studies.

The recently concluded Second Summer School in Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies brought together scholars and students from around the world in the enchanting city of Cartagena, Spain. Organized by the Multilectal Mediated Communication & Cognition (MC2 Lab) in collaboration with EST and TREC, the event received support from the International Doctoral Schools of the University of Murcia and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena.

Among other prominent scholars, such as professors Ricardo Muñoz Martín, Sharon O’Brien, and María Rojo López, our research leader, prof. Sandra L. Halverson, was one of the instructors.

The primary objective of the school was to offer research-focused courses specifically designed for aspiring translation and interpreting researchers.

Following the conclusion of the school, the members of the Bertinoro Translation Societies convened in Cabo de Palos to discuss the future directions of Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies. Chiara Astrid Gebbia had the valuable opportunity to present a poster on her research on adaptability and expertise in translation.

On May 25th, the AFO research group hosted a workshop that focused on exploring the relationship between language policy and translation. The workshop was conducted by Professor Reine Meylaerts from the University of Leuven, who specializes in researching translation policies for minorities, migrants, and refugees.

During the workshop, our group had the privilege of discussing the current state of minority languages in Norway with Prof. Meylaerts. This event served as a significant milestone in advancing our research group’s efforts to map the translation landscape of the country.

Last week, Jean Nitzke participated at the 25th TransELTE conference in Budapest, Hungary. This special event celebrated not only 20 years of translation studies research on PhD level at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, but also 50 years of translator and interpreter training in Hungary. The theme of the conference was “21st century competence in language mediation” and Jean was invited to contribute to a panel discussion on “21st century competence in translation: training and practices in the industry”. Further, she was asked to give a presentation on “Risks and decisions in the post-editing process” in the section on “Complementary competence in the light of translation technology”.

The conference also covered amongst others aspects of language mediation in public services, professional competence in public service interpreting, competence as seen by the translation industry and training institutions, and gave the PhD students the chance to present their projects. Additionally, Jean was allowed to sneak a peak at the Alumni event that preceded the conference where former students presented their work reality today. All in all, the conference was an inspiring event with a lot of new insights and thought-provoking discussions, but also stood out due to great hospitality and a stunning location.

The New Year started with a talk given by Prof. Sandra Halverson for the PhD program in Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies (ReMeTIS) at the University of Geneva. It was delivered online on January 10th and provided future researchers with instruments to integrate different research methods so as to structure solid studies.

As the title evokes, the talk “Multimethod and Mixed Methods Research (MMMR) in Translation and Interpreting” addressed the question of whether MMMR is gaining ground because of the needs of Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS) and delved into the possible added values it can represent.

Current issues within MMMR are also relevant in assessing the ongoing development of TIS, both in terms of a general disciplinary development and a specific methodological one.

Besides her academic work, Prof. Barbara Gawrońska Pettersson has dedicated her free time to fiction.

She has published three novels and several short stories in her mother tongue, Polish, but in 2022, her novel Alter occurred in translation into English. On the surface, the book is a fantasy adventure story, but the author regards it rather as a psychological development novel. 

The most used Bible translation in Norway is under revision. Our member Morten Beckmann was interviewed on the radio show Studio 2 at NRK P2, discussing the new changes brought about by hir research and how they might affect our understanding of the Bible.

Professor Gawrońska Pettersson has been invited to give 4 talks within the PhD course “Chosen topics in Humanities” at the Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk, Poland.

The talk delivered in October, with the title Sami People in Scandinavia and Soviet Union/Russia – cultural and educational policies, gave an overview of the shifting approaches to the question of integration of ethnic minorities as opposed to the
preservation of their language and cultural heritage in the 20th century. A specific focus was placed on the Sami minority in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia/Soviet Union.

Two talks had the title Non-fiction? Memoirs and literary journalism from a genealogical and narratological perspective and addressed the issue of the definition of genres that combine factual reportage with stylistic methods that are typical for fictional literature (memoirs, autobiographies, diaries, narrative journalism). The fictional and non-fictional elements as well as perspective shifts in narration were illustrated by examples from the prose by Polish, German, and American authors.

The last talk, Pomeranian motifs in Swedish chronicles and memoirs, will be given soon. It focuses on the traces of the common Scandinavian-Pomeranian history in Swedish non-fiction literature by delving into the complicated history of the region of Pomerania. Its parts were independent or belonged to Germany, Poland, and Scandinavian countries.