Translation Studies Cluster Proposal

Edwin Gentzler, a star translation studies scholar and Director of the Translation Center at the University of Massachusetts, led a workshop devoted to "Translation and Globalization"in Madison this fall. When an audience member casually remarked that we teach sixty three languages here, Gentzler was amazed. "You are sitting on a gold mine", he said. Most humanities departments agree: if we consolidate and exploit the richness of these resources and promote a fruitful and innovative integration among them, the University of Wisconsin-Madison can become an internationally recognized Translation Studies center. We propose, as a first and fundamental step to creating such a center, that the University hire three faculty in the area of Translation Studies, with a special emphasis on the study of the relation between the theory and the practices of translation in different disciplines (literary translation, business and industry, international relations, etc)

Translation Studies is an emergent area of academic study that forges connections between foreign languages, applied linguistics, literary theory, philosophy, anthropology, marketing and advertising. Attending philosophically and practically to the uniqueness of each local language and culture, as well as to the procedures available for navigating between and among them, Translation Studies opens the possibility of exploring Western and non-Western discursive practices in the context of a truly global community. Its interdisciplinary methodology moves well beyond models of communicative interaction still wed to limited and limiting national paradigms. In practice, this means not only training students in particular foreign languages for those who wish to embark on the careers in the international sector (from literature to business or law), but also providing them with the conceptual tools to understand how to assess cultural difference most broadly. We believe that this cluster of hires will allow the University of Wisconsin-Madison to close the gap between "literary" and "technical" translation that has dramatically limited the scope of Translation Studies at other institutions. It will allow us to diversify curricular offerings and increase the enrollments in the area of less frequently taught languages, as well as to strengthen the University's outreach mission to an increasingly international industry and business sector in Wisconsin.

Programs in Translation Studies require the resources of a major research university, and are in consequence still quite rare. After the retirement of Daniel Weissbort, the University of Iowa Translation Workshop has been frozen, leaving only Penn State, Kent State, the University of Arkansas, University of Texas at Dallas and SUNY-Binghamton as viable translation centers. The program we envision is unique in combining the theory and practice of translation (most existing translation programs lean in either one or the other direction). It builds upon the existing University of Wisconsin Cultural Translation Project which has hosted Weissbort, Gentzler, Brisset and other leading translation scholars. Directed by Tomislav Longinovic (Slavic), this research circle has organized lectures and workshops during the past two years with the funds provided by the International Institute. The success of these events was manifest in faculty, graduate and undergraduate student interest and in the participation of more than a dozen humanities departments. Currently, the Cultural Translation Project has received requests from several professional translation organizations for collaboration, including the Nordic Division of the American Translators Association and the American Literary Translators Association, which plans to hold its national convention in Madison in the Fall of 2002.

We seek funding for three positions that would cover the entire area of Translation Studies.

1. A Senior Professorship in Translation History, Theory and Cultural Politics. Lawrence Venuti (Temple) or Edwin Gentzler (U Mass), the most prominent American scholars in the field, have already been informally approached. Venuti will visit the campus next fall and Gentzler has expressed strong interest in the position during his visit this fall. These scholars are currently the most recognized authorities in the field.
2. A Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Translation. This will be a year-long position for persons of diverse backgrounds that would bring prominent practitioners of translation, or foreign scholars studying the matter of translation, to campus. The revolving nature of the position will ensure the constant influx of new concepts and methodologies. One of the possible candidates, Michael Henry Heim, will offer a Translation Workshop on November 3 at the UW Campus.
3. A Professorship in Professional Translation. An open rank position for a person of diverse background who can train translators in the basic methods of machine translation, web technologies and terminology research for medical, legal, business, engineering and other applied branches, and whose research bears also on the methodology of translation. Annie Brisset (Ottawa), a senior professor in this area has agreed to consider the position if funded, or help us locate the appropriate candidate.

Each scholar would be employed in one or more of the undersigned departments at 50 or 100%, while simultaneously participating in the translation research cluster. In the near future and building on this research cluster, we envision the creation of two interactive campus entities on the basis of this cluster hire:

1. Translation Studies academic program that will further the practice, teaching and research of translational processes and
2. Translation Center that will serve as a training and resource center for professional translators in the areas of business, law, biotechnology, engineering, etc.

Differences between languages and cultures oblige the translator to engage in the crossing of bridges that both divide and connect peoples and races. It is from this perspective of openness and commitment to the "other", that we propose a Translation Studies cluster, an interdisciplinary academic endeavor that will evolve into a major resource center for the state and the nation. The students trained at this center will become a crucial factor of progress in our public schools, our hospitals, our government, our media and our businesses. By bringing foreign languages into a broader consortium that studies not only translation between languages, but also between particular cultures and their economies, we would be building on existing strengths to keep our university in the forefront of teaching, research and service to the state of Wisconsin.