37.2703, Confs: Translation, Space and Power (Italy)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2703. Wed Aug 19 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2703, Confs: Translation, Space and Power (Italy)

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Date: 18-Aug-2026
From: Giulia Pedrini [giulia.pedrini at units.it]
Subject: Translation, Space and Power


Translation, Space and Power
Short Title: TSP
Theme: Reconfiguring the Geographies of Cultural Production

Date: 26-Apr-2027 - 28-Apr-2027
Location: Trieste, Italy
Contact: Giulia Pedrini
Contact Email: giulia.pedrini at units.it
Meeting URL: https://tsp2027.units.it/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis;
Sociolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics; Translation

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

In an age of intensified interconnectedness and "time-space
compression" (Harvey, 1989), translation emerges both as a situated
practice and a force that reshapes cultural geographies. It is not
only a linguistic act, but a cultural, political and economic one.
This has always been the case historically, but the current pace of
technological and political developments is generating ripples of
change at unprecedented speed. Translation inhabits and constructs
spaces—urban and rural, central and peripheral—while circulating
through networks of cultural production and exchange. It also
underpins soft power strategies and cultural diplomacy (Carbó-Catalan
& Roig Sanz, 2022; Wu, 2017), carrying narratives and values across
borders. It generates complex publishing-market flows (Heilbron,
2000), where translations are commissioned not only for local
readerships but also as catalysts for international circulation.
Recently emerging notions such as Vimr’s (2020) "supply-driven
translation" are helping to shed light on impulses for translation
that are not restricted to target systems but relate to economic,
political and cultural dimensions operating at the source pole. The
role and significance of source-related factors is also apparent in
translation scenarios outside publishing, such as institutional
translation (Prieto Ramos, 2018), public service, or "community"
(Taibi & Ozolins, 2016) translation, and tourism (Katan & Fina, 2024),
often in contexts where the languages acting as "source" and "target"
coexist in the same geographical space. These dynamics challenge
long-established paradigms of movement from a fixed "source" to a
fixed "target" and call for a renewed reflection on translation as an
instrument of spatial reconfiguration and re-imagination.
The recent technological, political and socio-economic developments
concern dimensions that do not map onto the "international" outlook
traditionally favoured by Translation Studies. These dimensions, which
may be labelled as "transnational" (Cussel, 2020) or "translocal"
(Haldrup, 2009), appear to be more suited to capture the
criss-crossing networks and processes that span geographically
dispersed localities. Space-related terms such as "border",
"boundary", "locale" and "zone" may still prove useful in describing
translation processes and events, but they should perhaps be redefined
in a world of increased connections across space facilitated by
business networks, migration and advancements in technology — with
"on-demand availability" (Wenzlhumer, 2007) and dematerialized, or
"disembodied" (Littau, 2016), formats today being the default modes
for most types of content and information. Building on previous work
in Translation Studies that foregrounds the reconfiguration of spatial
concepts (Bielsa & Kapsaskis, 2020; Cronin, 2003; Feinauer et al.,
2023; Simon, 2012), this conference invites contributions exploring
how translation operates within, or against, the notions of space and
power.
We welcome papers addressing, but not limited to, the following
thematic clusters:
Reconfiguring Space and Place in Translation
– Translation in contact zones and multilingual urban environments.
– The deterritorialization of language communities and the emergence
of "translation spaces"
(Simon, 2018).
– Digital and "disembodied" formats (Littau, 2016) and their impact on
translation’s spatial logics.
– Translation practices straddling multiple geographical locations,
e.g. institutional, legal, and news
media translation.
Translation, Power, and Diplomacy
– Translation as a vehicle of soft power and cultural diplomacy:
shaping images of nations, regions,
and identities.
– National and supranational translation policies shaping perceptions
of space.
– Historical dynamics of cultural and translation policies.
Flows, Markets, and Networks
– Mapping translation flows in global publishing and audiovisual
markets.
– Source-initiated and supply-driven translations and the translocal
life of texts.
Beyond Source–Target Dichotomies
– Translation within communities that simultaneously act as source and
target.
– New trajectories of linguistic exchange in a post-globalized world.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
Claudio Minca · University of Bologna
Nike Pokorn · University of Ljubljana
Luc van Doorslaer · University of Tartu
Important Information:
 - Abstract length: 300–500 words, including a short bibliography.
 - Deadline: 15 October 2026.
 - Notification of acceptance: 1 December 2026.
 - Languages: Abstracts and papers may be submitted in English or
Italian.
 - Format: Please send your proposal (title, abstract, name,
affiliation, and email) in a single PDF file to tsp2027 at units.it.
All abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee.
Presentations may be delivered in English or Italian. Selected papers
may be considered for publication in an edited volume or special
journal issue following the conference.
For further information, please visit tsp2027.units.it or contact
tsp2027 at units.it
Local Organizing Committee:
Paola Gentile
Marella Magris
Maria Teresa Musacchio
Martina Napolitano
Giuseppe Palumbo
Giulia Pedrini
Scientific Committee:
Brian Baer
Silvia Bernardini
Francesca Fiorentini
Federico Gaspari
Léa Huotari
Richard Mansell
Jack McMartin
Katia Peruzzo
Diana Roig Sanz
Luc van Doorslaer
Ondřej Vimr
References:
Bielsa, E., & Kapsaskis, D. (Eds.). (2020). The Routledge Handbook of
Translation and Globalization. Routledge.
Carbó-Catalan, E., & Roig Sanz, D. (Eds.). (2022). Culture as Soft
Power: Bridging Cultural Relations, Intellectual Cooperation, and
Cultural Diplomacy. De Gruyter.
Cronin, M. (2003). Translation and Globalization. Routledge.
Cussel, M. (2020). Transnational and global approaches in translation
studies. In E. Bielsa & D. Kapsaskis (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of
Translation and Globalization (pp. 113–127). Routledge.
Feinauer, I., Marais, A., & Swart, M. (Eds.). (2023). Translation
Flows: Exploring Networks of People, Processes and Products. John
Benjamins Publishing Company.
Haldrup, M. (2009). Local–Global. In International Encyclopedia of
Human Geography (pp. 245–255). Elsevier.
Harvey, D. (1989). The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the
Origins of Cultural Change. Blackwell.
Heilbron, J. (2000). Translation as a cultural world system.
Perspectives, 8(1), 9–26.
Katan, D., & Fina, M. E. (2024). "Heritage tourism translators". In G.
Massey, M. Ehrensberger-Dow, & E. Angelone (Eds.), Handbook of the
Language Industry (pp. 403–430). De Gruyter.
Littau, K. (2016). Translation and the materialities of communication.
Translation Studies, 9(1), 82–96.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2015.1063449
Prieto Ramos, F. (Ed.). (2018). Institutional Translation for
International Governance: Enhancing Quality in Multilingual Legal
Communication. Bloomsbury.
Simon, S. (2012). Cities in Translation: Intersections of Language and
Memory. Routledge.
Simon, S. (2018). Translation zones/spaces. In L. D’hulst & Y. Gambier
(Eds.), A History of Modern Translation Knowledge. Sources, Concepts,
Effects (Vol. 142, pp. 331–336). Benjamins.
Taibi, M., & Ozolins, U. (2016). Community Translation. Bloomsbury.
Vimr, O. (2022). The impact of translation subsidies on publishing
decisions in smaller European countries. Perspectives, 30(5), 828–843.
Wenzlhuemer, R. (2007). The dematerialization of telecommunication:
Communication centres and peripheries in Europe and the world,
1850–1920. Journal of Global History, 2(3), 345–372.
Wu, Y. (2017). Globalization, translation and soft power: A Chinese
perspective. Babel. Revue Internationale de la Traduction /
International Journal of Translation, 63(4), 463–485.



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