Translation Theory Lab

Falsche Freunde/False Friends: Uljana Wolf

The Translation Theory Lab is free and open to all translators, near and far, working in any language pair, who have an interest in the background questions, the theory and ethics of translation.

The Translation Theory Lab is an online-meeting via Zoom from 6.30pm to 8pm, organised by the Goethe-Institut in Glasgow.

For this Translation Theory Lab season, we are going all the way back to the beginning and are asking the primordial question with which translators, translation theorists and philosophers have to grapple: What is translation?

“in the beginning, though, or at the start, what art, what sort of sound, of silence: listen, when they begin the beguine, when’s that?”

… begins Uljana Wolf’s False Friends, in Susan Bernofsky’s translation from German. And as well as pondering the beginnings of translation, it makes us question where we situate boundaries: boundaries between original text and translation, boundaries between author and translator, boundaries between one language and another. Can these “false friends” ever be more than friends, or do they sometimes even become enemies?

This season, we are inviting you to get philosophical and discuss the poetics of translation through texts by German poet, translator and essayist Uljana Wolf, who will be joining us for the second session in the series.

The core reading will be supplemented by a selection of Wolf’s (prose) poetry, alongside essays on translation practice and resettling in another language, by German-to-English translator Susan Bernofsky and German-Japanese author Yoko Tawada.

Host: Rebecca DeWald

Dates for 2021:

Wednesday, 07.04.2021

Monday, 10.05.2021 (please register before Friday 07.05. at the latest)

Wednesday, 09.06.2021

Registration

New members are asked to register here at least 7 working days prior to the event. This will enable us to include you in the mailing list and send you the relevant reading material. Participants are asked to read these excerpts beforehand and reflect on them.

Please note: Those already on the mailing list do not have to register again.

The events are free to attend.

Further information can be found on the Goethe-Institut Glasgow events page.

The events are organised by the Goethe-Institut Glasgow and usually held at their premises in Glasgow. However, under current restrictions and until further notice our Translation Theory Lab is taking place online.

If you like, why not join our Facebook group for more discussion?