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Current projects
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(1) Historical research in Translation Studies
· An evaluation of the contribution that historical research in translation can make to historiography in general;
· An examination of the most fruitful methodologies for historical research into translation.
In the last few years I have begun a new project in which I hope to exploit my experience as a historian of translation and make a contribution to the theoretical and methodological debate on the historiography of translation. In 2011 I published a paper on this subject entitled “History through a Translation Perspective”, in Chalvin, Antoine, Anne Lange & Daniele Monticelli (eds) Between Cultures and Texts. Itineraries in Translation History/Entre les cultures et les textes. Itinéraires en histoire de la traduction. Frankfurt Am Main, Peter Lang, 2011: 33-43. In 2012 I published a position paper in a Forum on translation history in the Special Issue on Rethinking Methods in Translation History, edited by Carol O'Sullivan, of the journal Translation Studies, with response from Theo Hermans, Dirk Delabastita and Paul St-Pierre. In 2014 I edited a Special Issue of the journal The Translator on “Theories and Methodologies of Translation History”. In 2016 I co-authored with the historian Vicente Rafael (Univ Washington) an article on the interdisciplinary relationship between translation history and historical studies in general: “History and translation. The event of language”, in Gambier, Yves and van Doorslaer, Luc (Eds) Border and Crossings. Translation and Studies and other disciplines, Amsterdam, John Benjamins: 23-48. I have also written two essays on theoretical aspects of historical research on translation which will be published in two important forthcoming encyclopedias: "Temporality" in Yves Gambier & Lieven D'hulst (eds), A History of Modern Translation Knowledge: Sources, Concepts, Effects, Amsterdam, Benjamins, 2018: 235–246; and "Historiography [of translation]" in Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (eds) The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, London, Routledge. Finally, I am currently editing The Routledge Handbook of Translation History which will come out in 2019 and will bring together over 30 state-of-the-art essays on the history of translation and interpreting.
(2) Translation and Fascism
· The development of the translation industry during the Fascist regime, especially the 1930s.
· Translation in fascist regimes, in particular Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal.
Translation in Fascist Italy
I am interested in the development of a translation industry in Italy during the 1930s and the reaction against translation that this development provoked. In particular, I am interested in the relationship between the introduction of racist legislation and the introduction of restrictive measures against translation. My aim is to shed light on the way which translation, in this ideological context, was seen as a threat to the Fascist cultural project; and to show how translation was perceived as a sign of weakness in a regime that had ambitions to become a domineering international cultural presence.
As well as several articles on this topic I have published the monograph Publishing Translations in Fascist Italy (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010).
Translation in Fascist Regimes
Following the symposium held at the University of Bologna in 2005, Prof. Kate Sturge (University of Aston, UK) and myself have edited a collection of essays on the theme of translation in fascist regimes - in particular on Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal - entitled Translation Under Fascism (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). The volume includes contributions by scholars from Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Portugal - including translation scholars and cultural historians. Our aim is to try and introduce the study of translation into the historiography of fascism and highlight the contribution we feel this has to make to the understanding of fascism and its cultural policies.
Taking some of the comparisons of this volume further is an essay of mine which looks in detail at the relationship of different (proto) fascist regimes to translation: "Translation and Fascism", in Fruela Fernandez and Jonathan Evans (eds) The Routledge Handbook on Translation and Politics. London, Routledge, 2018: 29-47.
Translation under communism
In order to broaden our understanding of translation under totalitarian regimes, and as a complementary project to my earlier research on translation under fascism, I am co-editing, with Anne Lange and Daniele Monticelli (University of Tallinn, Estonia) the forthcoming volume Translation under Communism which will bring together 10-12 essays on translation in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The volume will be published by Palgrave Macmillan.
(3) International collaboration
I am currently "Honorary Fellow" at the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures of the University of Manchester. As fellow, I collaborate with Italian Studies and the CTIS, both in terms of my research and as an MA and PhD supervisor.
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Past projects
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(4) SDH Project Television Subtitles for the Deaf and HoH
I was coordinator of a research project into television subtitling for the deaf and HoH in Italy, entitled SDH Project (www.sdhproject.net ). The aim was to draw up a series of quality guidelines that were tailored to the Italian market and that took into consideration both the realistic possibilities of the suppliers of these services and the legitimate expectations of their beneficiaries. A research fellowship was created for this project held by Irene Frosi. The project was made possible thanks to the generous financial support of Colby Srl.
(5) Subtitler training
I coordinated a research project which looked into subtitling practices in Italy (www.subtitleproject.net ), with a view to informing our training practices at the university.
I published an article on the project in the Interpreter and Translator Trainer, St Jerome, Manchester (2008, Vol 2 No.1). For many years I ran subtitler training courses both at graduate and undergraduate level at the University of Bologna. We also collaborated in the past with the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies (CTIS) of the University of Manchester and their MA courses in AVT.
