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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.

Our research group attended the Tolkekonferansen 2022 held in Oslo on the 1st and 2nd of December. The conference aimed to discuss the challenges that Norway may face one year after The Interpretation Act, along with its possible benefits.

During the conference, both scholars and representatives of the private and public sectors discussed how it is fundamental to provide interpreting services in the minority languages, such as Sami and Sign Language.

November marked the 25th anniversary of the birth of the Norwegian Association of Audiovisual Translators (NAVIO). As one of the different translator associations in Norway, NAVIO is committed to facilitating the recognition of translation as a profession.

For this occasion, our group attended a two-day seminar that the association organized in Oslo on the 18th and 19th of November. The seminar included three talks and two workshops.

Arnstein Frilling talked about how to decode discourse concerning sport in the USA; Gunn Tove Grønsberg focused on the ways through which what we see and hear can speak directly to our emotion; and Øystein Runde dealt with how words can drag the receiver into a narration.

Professor Gawrońska Pettersson has published a new article in the journal Polylogue. Neophilological Studies with the title The World of George Grosz’s Pictures and the World Depicted in The Novel Pokora by Szczepan Twardoch.

The article deals with a case study conducted within the framework of Gérard Genette’s intertextuality theory. It investigates the connections between the German painter George Grosz’s pictures, his biography, and the Polish novelist Szczepan Twardoch’s story of a young man from Silesia who is pending between German, Polish, and Silesian identity as well as between social classes, political views, and erotic orientations.