CALL FOR PAPERS

AVT & MINORITY CULTURES

Within translation studies, minority has been the concern of scholars and translators whose interest has focused on language varieties ("dialects, registers, styles, discourses and modes", Catford, 1965: 83) linked to cultures that occupy subordinate positions in social formations, or what Deleuze and Guattari define as "states of language, ethnicity or sex with their own ghetto territorialities" (1987: 106). Minority languages and cultures challenge dominant, homogenising systems by posing resistance in the form of innovation, particularly when considered within the framework of our globalised world. This two-day conference aims to explore the unpredictable linguistic and cultural variations that minority might introduce in the study of audiovisual translation. We want to consider not only the uses of nonstandard linguistic items, multilingualism, and minor languages in audiovisual media, but also the range of cultural, social, and political issues raised by such uses, especially when affiliated with minor cultures. If we side with Abé Mark Nornes's view that "to the extent that skilled translators disregard conventional practices and creatively work through translation problems - both typical ones and those arising from the specificities of dubbing and subtitling - the outlook and possibilities for moving image translation are both hopeful and intriguing" (Nornes 2007: 16), how might the study and practice of audiovisual translation be reformulated in relation to minorities in the 21st century?

We particularly invite contributions that encourage interdisciplinary discussions between scholars and translators about how audiovisual media can give voice to voiceless cultures and how such media might redefine the identity and role of the translator in the 21st century.

Suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Standard vs. nonstandard language varieties, multilingualism, and minor languages in audiovisual translation
• Audiovisual translation and the formation of identity
• Translation activism in today's global media landscape
• The social and political implications of translating humour in audiovisual material

• Dubbing and subtitling in world cinema understood as relations between film cultures positioned in global hierarchies, major and minor, central and peripheral

• The Cinema of Minorities: Film adaptation and minority cultures