The Translation of Autobiographical Accounts. The “I” from the Source Language/Culture to the Target Language/Culture
El Affroun
Organization: University of Blida 2 Lounici Ali
University of Blida 2
Faculty of Arts and Languages
Department of Translation
Call for Papers for an Hybrid International Conference Entitled
The Translation of Autobiographical Accounts.
The “I” from the Source Language/Culture to the Target Language/Culture
November 5-6, 2024
Conference Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Rachida SADOUNI, University of Blida 2
Conference vice Chairperson: Ms. Ibtissam BOUANIKA, University of Blida 2
Introduction
The idea for this conference came from an observation. There are a quantity and variety of translations of autobiographical accounts worldwide, in all languages, but there are very few translation studies on them. This is why this conference will attempt to address this little-known mode of expression in the translation field, and as subjective and complex as translation. Our conference will examine in a purely translation studies context: novel, short story, poetry, songs, diary, epistolary, etc. As a result, the conference will overview the autobiographical accounts translated during different eras, in different geographical, linguistic and cultural zones, as well as in different fields: literary, human and social sciences, religious, scientific, etc.
Thanks to its unique topic, this conference will mainly seek to explain the notions closely linked to the translation of autobiographical accounts, such as displacement, re-contextualization, mediation, authenticity, precision, emotion, self-translation, intra/inter-translation, inter-culturality, Selfness, movement, reception, discourse, narrative, autobiographical pact, I, polyphony, cultural words/expressions, and likewise the boundaries that these notions establish between the author of the original text and his translator. In other words, it is about identifying the part of faithfulness/unfaithfulness in the transfer of autobiographical accounts from a source language/culture to a target language/culture.
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Based on the very ancient thought that any translation is a betrayal, and the fact that some authors of autobiographies express themselves in a language other than their mother tongue, it would be very interesting to see how the translator transfers to his language and his culture a personal writing expressed in a borrowed language. It is a complicated and complex process. In this specific case, our conference aims to dissect the strategies and techniques of translation of autobiographical writings expressed in a foreign language to the author, and which embody a great deal of cultural words/expressions of the source culture. It goes without saying that for this aspect of things, the conference will inevitably highlight the linguistic and cultural background of the translator, which is of capital importance in the translation of autobiographical accounts. Therefore, our conference aims neither to establish an inventory of translated autobiographical works, nor to compare available and different translations of the same (or several) autobiographical account(s), nor even to describe translations of autobiographical accounts. This conference aims to analyze the form and content of the translations of autobiographical writings and seeks to consider the problem of the transfer of life accounts, all forms combined, in the translation studies in the literal meaning of the word. Our conference will not be limited to the written form of autobiography, but will also deal with other autobiographical forms, such as cinema, theater, and all other autobiographical accounts non-written forms.
We invite researchers, lecturers, and translators, who would like to take part in this conference, to express themselves on the following issues, the list of which is not exhaustive:
- How to “import” an autobiographical work with all its intimate implications into a target culture, especially if this culture is conservative or even a taboo culture?
- How can the author of an autobiographical account recognized in the translated version, knowing that the translator of this text will become the author of the target text, and will therefore replace the “I” of the original text?
- Does the name of the translator mentioned on the translated version of the autobiography add value to the original life account or does it overshadow its author? In other words, does the “I” in the original autobiography have the same value as the “I” in its translated version? - Can a translator, no matter how professional he/she is, re-express a discourse as personal as the autobiography if he/she is not skilled with knowledge of the culture of the author of the original text, and especially its context and the paratext?
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- How to reexpress what is naturally untranslatable in an autobiographical account: cultural words/expressions, the unsaid, the forbidden, the paratext, the implicit, etc?
- How can be language registers, bilingualism/multilingualism, and polyphony, used in the autobiographical account translated, when it is well known that any transfer in translation implies a loss of meaning?
- How is personal life narrated in the language and culture of the Other as it is well known that personal experience is very complicated to share, already in the original culture by the author?
- Is the “I” (in) translatable?
- The one in charge of the transfer of autobiographical accounts from a language/culture into another language/culture is obviously the translator. What about him/her? Is he/she linguistically and culturally skilled enough to translate an autobiographical account?
- What is the role and importance of academic training in translation in the translation of autobiographical accounts?
- What is the value of an autobiographical account when there are several versions of it in the same target language?
- Would the successful translation of an autobiographical account for a target reader necessarily mean that it is faithful to the author's very intended meaning?
- Does an autobiographical writing have universal value when it is translated into several languages? If so, is it the same for all readers of the target text?
These issues and many others will be addressed in the context of our conference through the following areas:
Area one: Translation of autobiographical accounts in literature. This area deals with translations of literary autobiographical accounts, such as novels, short stories, poetry, songs, written and published by professional writers –novelists, poets, singers, etc.
Area two: Translation of autobiographical accounts in humanities. This area deals with the translations of autobiographical accounts published in the form of personal or professional experiences, by researchers, politicians, singers, actors/actresses, and all humans, in a style other than the sustained literary style.
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Area three: Self-translation of autobiographical accounts. This area deals with case studies of life stories translated by their authors. In other words, this area will attempt to answer the following question: Can the author of an autobiographical account translate faithfully his/her original text into the target language/culture and have an effect on the target reader similar to that on the reader of the source text?
Area four: Autobiographical accounts between intra-translation and inter-translation. This area will focus on autobiographical accounts where the authors interpret personal and cultural aspects in the language of the writing, which are then translated by the translator into the target text.
Terms and timetable for sending proposals
Anonymous proposals (title + abstract + five key words) of one page (approximately 400 words), bibliographic references excluded, should be sent in ONE PDF file to the following address: col.trad.autobiographie.2024@ gmail.com, no later than July 20, 2024 (extended to August 25, 2024).
Along with the aforementioned PDF file, a separate PDF file containing, in order of appearance, the following information:
Name and first name of the author of the communication proposal;
Academic grade;
Affiliation;
Email address;
Telephone number;
Area of the conference;
Title of the proposal.
Expertise results of communication proposals received: By September 15, 2024.
Criteria for the admissibility of communication proposals for expertise by the scientific committee of the conference
1. Paper proposals must be closely linked to the field of translation studies and the theme of this conference.
2. Paper proposals must be practical studies on a corpus (original and translation) or presentations on a solid theoretical basis. Descriptive presentations of an autobiographical or general culture story are automatically rejected.
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3. The corpus in the context of this conference refers to a written and unwritten autobiographical work, and its translation(s), already published/broadcast. Proposals for communications relating to autobiographical works whose translation(s) have not been published/not available in audio-visual form, on the date of the conference , will not be assessed by the scientific committee.
4. Paper proposals must include the following four pieces of information relating to the corpus studied: name of the author of the original text, title of the autobiographical story, year of its publication, publishing house, name of the translator, title of the translation , year of publication of the translation, publishing house, source language and target language of the corpus. The non-written autobiographical corpus must include information compatible with this type of production. All source and target languages are accepted.
5. Paper proposals must include the context of the study, a methodology in the scientific sense of the term, and the results. In addition, they must include a clear problem, which provides information on the difficulties and challenges of translating the corpus studied, as well as translation strategies and techniques. In this way, the proposals must be coherent and precise.
6. Paper proposals must address both the linguistic aspect and the extralinguistic aspect in the translationological sense of the word.
7. Priority in the assessment of communication proposals will be given to new communication proposals, then to those relating to a corpus already treated in previous studies that are more or less similar, but which poses a new problem in translation studies.
8. Paper proposals must include five keywords and a bibliographical list of at least five references. These must be closely linked to the theme of the conference, as well as to the theme of the communication proposal.
9. The communications presented at the conference will be published in an ASJP journal (Algerian Scientific Journal Platform). To this end, the authors of the accepted communications proposals must send their full communications no later than October 20, 2024. After this date, the accepted communications proposals, but whose authors have not sent their full communications within the deadline , will not be included in the conference program.
10. The authors of the selected communications proposals will receive upon acceptance of their proposals the writing standards to be respected for sending the full communications.
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Conference Scientific Committee
President of the scientific committee: Dr. Djazira Ait Ammir, university of Blida 2
Members of the scientific committee
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salah BEKKOUCHE, university of Blida 2
Prof. Dr. Abdelkader RASSOUL, university of Médéa
Prof. Dr. Wafa BEDJAOUI, university of Algiers 2
Prof. Dr. Meriem FELLAG ARIOUET, university of Algiers 2
Prof. Dr. Boutheina ATHAMNIA, university of Algiers 2
Prof. Dr. Dalila KHELIFI, university of Algiers 2
Prof. Dr. Fatma ALLIOUI, university of Algiers 2
Prof. Dr. Fouzia AMROUCHE, university of M’sila
Prof. Dr. Nacera IDIR, university of Tizi-Ouzou
Prof. Dr. Ludmila ZBANT, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
Dr. Rosie PINHAS-DELPUECH, School of Literary Translation, Paris, France
Dr. Olfa GANDOUZ, Sattam Bin Abdelaziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Dr. Amina TAHRAOUI, Princess Nurah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Dr. Angela GRADINARU, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
Dr. Nina ROSCOVAN, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
Dr. Irina BREAHNA, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova Dr. Olesea BODEAN VOZIAN, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
Dr. Arezou DADVAR, Sorbonne Nouvelle University – Paris, France
Dr. Alexandru MATEI, University of Transilvania, Bra?ov, Romania
Dr. Raluca Nicoleta BALATCHI, ?tefan Del Mare de Suceava University, Romania
Dr. Maria da Glória MAGALHÃES DOS REIS, university of Brazilia, Brazil
Dr. Ibtissam KHELLAF, university of Blida 2
Dr. Mohamed Reda BOUCHAMA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Wissam BENYAHIA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Manel BOUNEKTA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Ibrahim FARAH, university of Blida 2
Dr. Hadj Ahmed BELLABES, university of Blida 2
Dr. Imene BOURAIB, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Amina KOUATI, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Imane Amina MAHMOUDI, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Sarra TOUATI, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Taous GACEMI, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Souhila ASSABA, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Sofiane BOURKAIB, Higher School for Teachers (ENS) - Bouzaréah
Dr. Dahbia BOUALLOUT, university of Algiers 3
Dr. Ezzoubeyr MEHASSOUEL, university of Ghardaïa
Dr. Sofiane DJEFFAL, university of Mascara
Dr. Nadjiba BOUALLEGUE, university of Guelma
Dr. Hichem SOUHALI, university of Batna 2
Dr. Noussaiba DJEHA, university of Ouargla
Dr. Meriem BENLAKDAR, university of Sétif
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Conference Organizing committee
President of the organizing committee
Prof. Dr. Ali MANSOURI, university of Blida 2
Members of the organizing committee
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salah BEKKOUCHE, university of Blida 2
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Ali CHABANE, university of Blida 2
Dr. Ibtissam KHELLAF, university of Blida 2
Dr. Djazira AIT AMMIR, university of Blida 2
Dr. Wissam BENYAHIA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Manel BOUNEKTA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Ibrahim FARAH, university of Blida 2
Dr. Hadj Ahmed BELLABES, university of Blida 2
Dr. Nacera BEKARA, university of Blida 2
Dr. Souad KOULAM, university of Blida 2
Dr. Hanane MEZHOUDI, university of Blida 2
Dr. Lamia MOUISSI, university of Blida 2
Dr. Sarra TOUATI, university of Algiers 2
Dr. Sofiane BOURKAIB, ENS Bouzaréah
Dr. Fathi BOUKOUFTANE, university of Tipaza
Mr. Omar AMIRAT, university of Blida 2
Mr. Abdelkader NADIR, university of Blida 2
Mr. Abdelhaq Benabdelaziz, university of Blida 2
Mrs. Lynda DERKAOUI, university of Blida 2
Ms. Aya MEGHRAOUI, university of Blida 2
Mrs. Roumaissa Karima Zohra KAHIA, university of Blida 2
Mrs. Rahima BERAITIHA, university of Blida 2
Ms. Nabiha DOUIFI, university of Médéa
Ms. Manel KALAFAT, university of Blida 2
Selected Bibliography
BACHLEITNER, Norbert (ed.) Literary Translation, Reception, and Transfer, XXI. Congress of the ICLA – Proceedings, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020.
BAKER, Mona. In Other Words: A Course Book on Translation. New York: Rutledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203327579. 1992.
BALATCHI, Raluca-Nicoleta. «Défis de la traduction d’un genre: l’autobiographie», E. U. Suceava, Éd, Atelier de traduction, 2012. pp. 115-130. Récupéré sur http://www.diacronia.ro/ro/indexing/details/A5175/pdf
BESEMERES, Mary. Translating One’s Self: Language and Selfhood in Cross Cultural Autobiography, Oxford: Peter Lang, 2003.
DERRIDA, Jacques. L’oreille de l’autre (otobiographies, transferts, traductions). Textes et débats avec Jacques Derrida, Claude Lévesque et Christie V. McDonald (Dir.), Montréal : VLB éditeur, 1982.
GRELL-BORGOMANO, Isabelle; DEVESA, Jean-Michel (dir.), L’écriture du Je dans la langue de l’exil, EME éditions, Paris : l’Harmattan, 2019.
KNAUTH, K. Alfons (éd.). Traduction et littérature multilingue, Berlin : LIT, 2011.
LEJEUNE, Philippe. Le pacte autobiographique, Paris : Éditions Du Seuil, 1975.
LEJEUNE, Philippe. Je est un autre : l'autobiographie, de la littérature aux médias, Paris : Éditions du Seuil. 1980.
LEJEUNE, Philippe. «Le moi est-il international ? » Biography, 32 (1), pp. 1-8. 2009. https://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/01624962/v32i0001/1_lmei.xml
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MANZARI, Francesca; RINNER, Fridrun (Dir.). Traduire le même, l'autre et le soi, Aix-en-Provence : Presses universitaires de Provence. ISSN 1761-4481, 2011.
NAZZAL, Ayman. “The Translation of Mourid Barghthouti’s Autobiography as a Cultural Encounter”, International Journal of English Linguistics,Vol. 8, n°. 6. 2018. ISSN1923-869X E-ISSN1923-8703
REYNOLDS, D. Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2001.
RISTERUCCI-ROUDNICKY, Danielle. «Parler de soi dans la langue de l’autre entre dissimulation et dévoilement », in Paul, Jean-Marie; Hermetet, Anne-Rachel (Dir.). Écritures autobiographiques: Entre confession et dissimulation. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2010. (pp. 101-120). <http://books.openedition.org/pur/38706>.
TAYLOR, Kathy. Autobiographical Translation: Issues of Faithfulness in Reimaging from Source to Target Text, Using Cronaca Familiare as a Basis for Analysis. Academia. 2014.
TOLRON, Francine (ed.). Translating Identity and the Identity of Translation, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press. 2006.
Winters, Marion, “Narrative Shifts in Translated Autobiography”, Intralinea, Online Journl,Vol. 16, 2014. http://www.intralinea.org/archive/article/1957
XU YUN, Susan. Translation of Autobiography, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2017.
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col.trad.autobiographie.2024@gmail.com
Prof. Dr. Rachida Sadouni
