Call for Papers Questioning the Universal Through Translation: Translating the Social Sciences and Humanities Today 35th Conference of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies, Glendon Campus (York University), Toronto, dates TBA between May 27 and June 2, 2023 Organizers: Patricia Godbout (U. de Sherbrooke) and René Lemieux (U. Concordia) Keynote speaker TBA Translation in the social sciences and humanities has grown in prominence in recent years, both as a field within Translation Studies and within the disciplines in question (primarily philosophy, but also anthropology, sociology, literary studies, etc.), which are also keen to examine how their discourses are translated. This interest may stem from the fact that at some point, all disciplines must be translated. How does this disciplinary translation take place? Who has the necessary skills to do the translation? Specialists in the discipline who wish to translate, or translators who want to specialize in a particular discipline? What does this type of translation require? In the collective work La traduction épistémique: entre poésie et prose (ed. Tatiana Milliaressi, 2020), the translation of the social sciences and humanities is seen as a middle ground between an emotive approach (i.e., literary translation, potentially reserved for members of the literary community) and a sensitive approach (i.e., empirical, or specialized translation, which a trained translator is able to do). This middle ground is referred to as the cognitive approach, which is [trans] “linked to our reason and based on our logical deductions and speculative constructions to derive meaning” (p. 20). This cognition has now become a source of debate: do all languages and cultures think identically—universally? In various seminal texts, the “concept” is seen as the key element to be translated, as posited by Immanuel Wallerstein in 1981: “[C]oncepts are not universally shared and are quite often the subject of open conflict” (p. 88). While not unique to a given culture, concepts are also not entirely akin to a universally transferable technolect. How, then, is intercultural communicability achieved? Is it possible—or desirable—to go through a universal? If so, how should it be understood? Such a universal could be viewed as a yardstick by which to assess, or even judge, the empirical realities presented by languages. Arguing against the “illusion” of linguistic commensurability, Lydia H. Lui examines the political impact of the balance of power between languages, using the translation of analytical categories between East and West as an example: Perhaps, the crux of the matter is not so much that analytical categories cannot be applied across the board because they fail to have universal relevance—the impulse to translate is in fact unstoppable—but that the crossing of analytical categories over language boundaries, like any other crossing or transgression, is bound to entail confrontations charged with contentious claims to power. (1995, p. 7) In the “illusion” of equivalence between languages and cultures, translation could be seen as the imposition of one specific reality onto another, an act that is always to one side’s advantage, even to the point of destroying the other's knowledge (hence Sousa Santos’s concept of epistemicide, 2014). In the field of comparative literature, Emily Apter (2005), Pascale Casanova (2015) and Tiphaine Samoyault (2020) support this view of translation as a perpetuation of structural inequalities. Conversely, philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne has recently proposed the notion of charity as a way of viewing contact between languages. In an analysis of Willard O. Quine's (1960) famous thought experiment, Diagne argues: [Trans] It is a principle, not a thesis that emerges once the demonstration is complete. Thus, the American philosopher uses the word empathy or the expression “principle of charity.” Both convey the notion of recognition and equality within a shared humanity, which is the essence of translation. (2022, p. 38-39) Translating concepts from one language and culture to another can thus be viewed on a spectrum, ranging from the act of translation as a violent imposition of particular ideas in a falsely egalitarian exchange to translation as a beacon of a shared humanity. It is in the space between these two extremes that we wish to explore the question of the “universal” in translation in the social sciences and humanities, using Translation Studies as a forum to discuss the relationship between different languages and societies. This call for papers seeks to explore translation in the social sciences and humanities through the lens of the notion of “universal.” While translation is primarily understood here in the sense of “interlingual translation” (Jakobson 1986), this does not preclude other forms of intralingual or intersemiotic translation (adaptation, interpretation, paraphrasing, popularization, etc.) from being relevant topics of study. We are primarily interested in the following: multilingualism and the asymmetrical relationships between languages legal and political relationships in translation the role of translation in colonial violence Eurocentrism in translation studies the role of translation in the history of ideas retranslation in the social sciences and humanities different versions of the same work in the social sciences and humanities the question of untranslatability between languages translating Translation Studies as a social science the role of translation in school curricula the role of disciplinary specialization when translating the social sciences and humanities any other topic that pertains to the social sciences and humanities, particularly the insights they provide into translation We welcome proposals for panels and special events, launches, round tables, etc. Papers are limited to 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions, and should be given in English, French or Spanish. To submit a proposal, please fill out the following form and email it to act.cats.2023@gmail.com. The deadline is October 7, 2022. The completed forms will be used by the organizers when preparing a Social Science and Humanities Research Council grant application to seek funding that is crucial to the success of the ACT-CATS conference. Please note that only the quality of your proposal will be considered during the selection process. If your proposal is accepted by the scientific committee, the information provided in the form will be included in the grant application. Bibliography Apter, Emily (2005). The Translation Zone: A New Comparative Literature, Princeton University Press. Casanova, Pascale (2015). La langue mondiale : traduction et domination, Seuil. Diagne, Souleymane Bachir (2022). De langue à langue. L’hospitalité de la traduction, Albin Michel. Heim, Michael H., and Andrzei W. Tymowski (2006). Guidelines for the Translation of Social Science Texts, American Council of Learned Societies. Jakobson, Roman (1959). “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation,” in Reuben A. Brower (ed.), On Translation, Harvard University Press. Liu, Lydia H. (1995). Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity – China, 1900–1937, Stanford University Press. Milliaressi, Tatiana (ed.) (2020). La traduction épistémique: entre poésie et prose, Presses universitaires du Septentrion. Quine, Willard O. (1960). Word and Object, MIT Press. Samoyault, Tiphaine (2020). Traduction et violence, Seuil. Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (2014). Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide, Paradigm Publishers. Wallerstein, Immanuel (1981). “Concepts in the Social Sciences: Problems of Translation,” in Marilyn Gaddis-Rose (ed.), Translation Spectrum: Essays in Theory and Practice, State University of New York Press.  Paper Proposal Form This form must be sent in Word format Deadline: Organizers: Email: Octobre 7, 2022 Patricia Godbout and René Lemieux act.cats.2023@gmail.com Title and abstract (300 words: this will appear in the conference program) Last name, first name; email Country of affiliation Affiliation Degrees (start with the most recent and specify the discipline) maximum 4 lines Positions held related to the conference theme (start with the most recent) maximum 5 lines Recent publications related to the conference theme (start with the most recent) maximum 10 lines Title and abstract (100 to 150 words) Relevance of your paper to the conference theme (100 to 150 words)