CFP--Translation Studies

[Melissa Smith]

I forwarded this message to a colleague of mine who is in Translation 
Studies, but since no one else has stepped up to the plate, I figured 
it was worth provoking some more serious discussion. Thanks for the 
humility, Susan, of framing your objections as those of a "lowly grad 
student," but I think there is much to your point, and generational 
experience  probably plays a major role. 

 Kathleen Parthe (if she remembers) was probably one of my primary role 
models for going into Russian Studies (being two years ahead of me at 
Barnard College over 30 years ago), and has my undying esteem. With all 
due respect, however, I think the generation of scholars who, like us, 
came to the field during the Cold War, the increasing 
professionalization of subdivisions of scholarly endeavors is an alien 
concept. Russian writers themselves have difficulty parting with the 
notion that "poet v Rossii ne prosto poet," but in fact, many of us 
lost our affiliation with "Humanities Heavy" in the post-Soviet era.

I myself was draw to Russian language because of its linguistic 
complexity in relation to the more accessible Romance languages, and to 
its literature because of encountering through it for the first time 
the "accursed questions" of life, death, the meaning of history, etc. 
Add to that the political "other" that dominated international 
discourse, and I had found a course of study worth devoting most of my 
professional, and much of my personal life to.

I find the questions raised in much of the CFP-Translation Studies 
Conference no less accursed, and quite intriguing. I also think the 
dialogue it may generate across the generations of our profession well 
worth engaging in. 

Now, back to the trenches of American public education!

Melissa Smith


On 2/12/10 12:48 AM, Susan LaVelle wrote:
> No, it is not a private correspondence; I was responding to this 
comment
> (repeated below) made by one SEELANGS contributor: 
> 
> Isn't this a case of 'Humanities Lite'?
> 
> regarding this entry (repeated below) made by another SEELANGS 
contributor:
> 
> 
> >International Conference Announcement and First Call for Papers
> >
> >"Shifting Paradigms: How Translation Transforms the Humanities"
> >
> >October 14-16, 2010
> >
> >The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> >Levis Faculty Center
> > etc.
> 
> I felt that it was inappropriate to speak so negatively about the
> conference, since some SEELANGERS might find it interesting and other
> SEELANGERS are contributing to it. It didn't seem appropriate to be so
> disparaging about someone else's field of interest. It could easily 
squelch
> genuine academic inquiry.
> 
> 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-


------------------------------------

Melissa T. Smith, Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and 
Literatures  
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH 44555
Tel: (330)941-3462

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------