University of Basel

Department of
Languages and Literatures

Department of Languages and Literatures

SymPol / iMean: Pragmatics of translation

Welcome

 

In 2021 the 13th meeting of the international Symposium on (Im)Politeness and the 7th meeting of the biannual iMean  (interaction and meaning)  conference will be merged for a meeting on the “pragmatics of translation” on 24-26 June, 2021 in (virtual) Basel, Switzerland. 

At the conference, scholars will  present papers on translation outcomes and processes which highlight a pragmatic angle of understanding the transfer of language phenomena across cultures and intra-culturally. We approach translation from a broad perspective, including written textual translation from source to target language as well as other modalities such as signing, simultaneous translation or audiovisual translation by professional and lay people. We also include topics such as explaining meaning to each other or translating sensual experience into language.

Many scholars have taken up the challenge to address both (im)politeness/delicacy as well as translation issues within an interactional/pragmatics frame, which promises to be an exciting interface. In addition, in the tradition of both the symposium of politeness and i-mean, you will also be able to listen to papers on (im)politeness and interactional meaning more generally.

Please consult this website for information on registration and details on the organisation of the conference.

The current pandemic situation in Switzerland is still unclear. In order to be able to plan, we have therefore decided to proceed with an online conference. Should the situation change and we can indeed hold the conference in Basel, we will offer online presenting for those who cannot come in person. However, for the moment, we proceed with planning an online conference and will update you should this change.

We are happy to exchange our ideas with over 70 presenters plus attendees in June and are looking forward to lively discussions.
Kind regards, Miriam Locher and team
 

 

 

Keynote Speakers

Keynote Philipp Angermeyer

Prof. Dr. Philipp Angermeyer (York University, Canada)

Philipp Angermeyer is professor in linguistics in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and director of the Graduate Program in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at York University. He is a sociolinguist. He is primary research interest is in multilingualism and language contact, especially as they relate to inequality and social justice. Recently he has worked mainly on interpreter-mediated interaction and on written discourse/linguistic landscape.
He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from New York University (2006) and an M.A. in Linguistics, Eastern-European History, and Comparative Literature (1998) from Universität zu Köln (Cologne, Germany).

Text adapted from: https://www.philippangermeyer.com/

Bruti-Keynote

Prof. Dr. Silvia Bruti (University of Pisa, Italy)

Silvia Bruti, PhD in English from the University of Pisa, is Associate Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Pisa and Director of the University Language Centre. Her research interests include topics such as discourse analysis, (historical) pragmatics, corpus linguistics, audiovisual translation and language teaching. She has published widely in these areas and contributed to national and international conferences. She has investigated issues in intercultural pragmatics and audiovisual translation, e.g. the translation of compliments, conversational routines and terms of address in subtitles and dubbing. Among her recent publications there are a monograph on the translation of politeness (2013) and a co-authored volume on interlingual subtitling (2017).

Website: https://people.unipi.it/silvia_bruti/

Dr Rachel Mapson, Lecturer in BSL/English Interpreting (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh)

Dr. Rachel Mapson, Lecturer in BSL/English Interpreting (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh)

Rachel Mapson completed her PhD in 2015 which, like her initial interpreter training, was studied through the University of Bristol. Her doctoral research was a qualitative study exploring how BSL/English interpreters recognise and reflect im/polite language from BSL into spoken English, including the various influences that impact on choice of interpreting strategy. Her research has also included study of the way im/politeness is conveyed in British Sign Language.

She joined the staff at Queen Margaret University in September 2016 in order to develop the Masters modules on advanced BSL/English interpreting. She works part-time at the University alongside her continuing professional practice as a self-employed interpreter.

Text adapted from: https://www.qmu.ac.uk/schools-and-divisions/shs/shs-staff/dr-rachel-mapson/

Lorenza Mondada

Prof. Dr. Lorenza Mondada (University of Basel, Switzerland)

Lorenza Mondada is Professor of general and French Linguistics at the University of Basel. Her research deals with social interaction in ordinary, professional and institutional settings, within an ethnomethodological and conversation analytic perspective. Her work on multimodality in interaction studies how linguistic and embodied resources are not only used but also configured and transformed in interaction, as well as how the situated and endogenous organization of social interaction draws on multimodal resources such as, beside language, gesture, gaze, body posture, body movements and objects manipulations. Her work has also explored a diversity of settings (surgical theatres, architectural practices, meetings, family meals, encounters in public spaces, call centers, shops, etc.) on the basis of video recordings of naturally occurring activities.

Website: https://franzoesistik.philhist.unibas.ch/de/personen/lorenza-mondada/

The Symposium of Politeness brings together scholars interested in politeness and impoliteness studies from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

Previous conferences: https://linguisticpoliteness.wordpress.com/conferences/

The iMean conferences on interaction and meaning take place every second year.

Previous iMean conferences:

iMean 2019: https://www.confer.nz/imean6/

iMean2009-2017: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/cahe/research/bristolcentreforlinguistics/i-mean/previousconferences.aspx

We are grateful to the following sponsors for supporting the sympol / iMean conference:

- The English Department of the University of Basel

- The Swiss National Science Foundation

- The Swiss Academy of Social Science and Humanity via the Swiss Association of Linguistics

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