XX SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING STUDIES
KäTu2023: Translation/Interpreting and Sustainability
University of Turku, 13-15 April 2023
KäTu2023 SYMPOSIUM THEME
The theme of the 2023 KäTu Symposium is Translation/Interpreting and Sustainability. With this theme, we wish to respond to the urgency of the concept of sustainable development, and promote the viewpoint of sustainability (ecological, social and economical) as an integral part of all human behavior. Needless to say, sustainable development, by the United Nations defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” (The Sustainable Development Agenda, FAQ) make great demands also on translation, both in the sense of product and process. As expressed by Michael Cronin in the introduction to his monograph Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene (p. 1), ”translation as a body of ideas and a set of practices is central to any serious or sustained attempt to think about th[e] interconnectedness and vulnerability [of our species] in the age of human-induced climate change.”
The theme Translation and Sustainability and may be explored in relation to any of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/) and be related to various perspectives, including but not limited to the following:
- Eco-translation and environmental translation
- Political ecology of translation/interpreting
- Translation/interpreting and social equity
- High-Tec versus Low-Tec translation practices
- Emotion and psychological capital in language professions
- Linguistic and cultural diversity
- Sustainability and translation/interpreting technologies
- Sustainability and travel writing
- The sustainability of translation as a profession and industry
- Sustainable translation policies
- Interpreting and minority languages
- Translation and democracy
- Translation and peace
- Sustainable research in Translation Studies
In keeping with established KäTu tradition, presentations and posters on other topics related to translation and interpreting are also welcome.
PURPOSE
The annual KäTu symposia offer researchers, teachers and practitioners of translation and interpreting a forum where they can discuss the diverse phenomena of the field, their ongoing research projects, and the state and development of Translation Studies in general. One important target group is doctoral students, who are offered the opportunity to present their current work and receive valuable feedback.
For nineteen years, the KäTu symposia have brought together a wide array of participants interested in the field and its research, from translators and interpreters of spoken as well as sign languages, to researchers and teachers of translation and interpreting. The KäTu symposia are organised as a collaborative effort between the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL), and the different Finnish universities which train future translators and interpreters. Hosting the symposium is rotated between these Finnish universities.
The 2023 symposium will be held at the University of Turku, which was also the host when the symposium was organised for the first time in 2003. The 2023 symposium is thus both the twentieth symposium and marks the twentieth anniversary of KäTu. To celebrate this, we will organise a session to remember the past where we wish to invite especially those who took part in organising the first symposium. To help with the remembrance of all symposiums past, we would be happy to receive photos from the past symposiums. If you have any photos you would be willing to share, please contact leena.salmi@utu.fi
PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS AND POSTERS
The 2023 plenary presentations will be given by Professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne (Columbia University), Senior Lecturer Séverine Hubscher-Davidson (The Open University) and Professor Kristiina Taivalkoski-Shilov (University of Turku).
In addition to the plenary lectures, the programme consists of presentations in parallel sessions (20 minutes and 5 minutes for discussion), workshops and poster presentations. Workshops are approximately two-hour sessions for general discussion of a specific topic (in either a panel discussion or small working groups) or for collaborative investigation of a subject. There will be a dedicated session for poster presentations, and a prize for the best poster.
Deadline for submitting proposals for workshops: Friday November 18th, 2022
Deadline for submitting proposals for session presentations and posters: Friday January 20th, 2023
The maximum length of a proposal is 2,500 characters – including spaces, but excluding references. The proposals must be submitted as email attachments using the template that can be found here. The proposal and the subject line of the email must specify the format of the proposal (workshop, presentation or poster). Please submit your proposal in rtf, doc, or docx format to katu2023@utu.fi.
More information on the workshops will be provided in the second circular. Notifications of acceptance of proposals for presentations and posters will be announced by 24 February 2023. For information concerning the process and criteria for evaluating abstracts, please visit here.
SPECIAL TRAINING EVENT FOR PHD STUDENTS ON 13 April 2023
A pre-symposium training event will be organised on Thursday, 13 April 2023, as part of the symposium. It is aimed primarily at doctoral students but is open to everyone. Further details concerning this session will be provided in the next circular.
CONFERENCE LANGUAGES
The primary working languages of the symposium and its sessions are Finnish, Swedish and English. If you would like to use another language and require interpreting services, please contact the symposium organisers.
TIEDON HELMI (PEARL OF WISDOM) AWARD
The Pearl of Wisdom award, granted annually by the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL), will be awarded at the symposium for the seventh time. The award is granted in alternate years on the basis of research or teaching merits. The awardee can be either a person, an organisation or a community; the award can be granted for an extraordinary individual undertaking, a long-term activity, or life’s work. In 2023, the award will be granted on the basis of research merits.
The award decision is made by the board of SKTL, based on a proposal by the committee of the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section. Suggestions for nomination can be sent by any member of the Section. Members must carefully observe the nomination principles, which are available in Finnish here. (Requires logging in, access is limited to members of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters.)
Proposals, which must detail the grounds for the nomination, should be sent to the Section Secretary, Sari Hokkanen, sari.hokkanen@tuni.fi, no later than February 15th, 2023.
DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AWARD IN TRANSLATION STUDIES
The Doctoral Dissertation Award in Translation Studies, granted by the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL), will be awarded for the first time at the Symposium. In the future, the award will be granted every second year, coinciding with the years when the Pearl of Wisdom award is granted for research merits. The award is given to a researcher who has written an excellent doctoral dissertation at a Finnish university within the previous two calendar years. The awardee is not required to be a member of SKTL.
The award decision is made by the board of SKTL, based on a proposal by a separately selected award committee. Proposals for nomination can be submitted by any member of the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section. Members must carefully observe the nomination principles, which are available in Finnish here. (Requires logging in, access is limited to members of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters.)
Proposals, which must specify the grounds for the nomination, should be sent to the Section Chair, Esa Penttilä, esa.penttila@uef.fi, no later than Saturday 31st December 2022.
PUBLICATION
Articles based on the symposium presentations will be compiled in the 17th volume of the online MikaEL publication. MikaEL is an open access journal that publishes both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed articles within Translation and Interpreting Studies. All KäTu2023 speakers, poster presenters and workshop organisers are invited to submit their previously unpublished manuscripts for publication. Note that only those presenters named in the accepted abstracts can be acknowledged as authors.
The 17th volume of MikaEL will be published in April 2024, before the next KäTu Symposium. Publications from previous symposia can be accessed here. The editors for the 17th volume of MikaEL will be announced at the symposium, and contributor guidelines will be sent to all participants via email after the symposium; they will also be available on the MikaEL website.
INFORMATION AND CONTACT DETAILS
Circulars pertaining to the KäTu2023 Symposium will be published on the symposium website. The second circular, containing information on registration, fees, accommodation and related practical matters will be published in December 2022. For all correspondence concerning the symposium, please use the symposium email address: katu2023@utu.fi
THE COVID-19 SITUATION
While closely monitoring national and regional developments and recommendations, the organisers are planning for an onsite conference in Turku.
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
University of Turku
Minna Hjort
Tiina Holopainen
Léa Huotari (Chair of the Local Organising Committee)
Laura Ivaska
Malin Podlevskikh Carlström
Leena Salmi
Kristiina Taivalkoski-Shilov
Outi Veivo
The Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters
Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section
Esa Penttilä, University of Eastern Finland (Section Chair)
Juha Eskelinen, University of Helsinki
Sari Hokkanen, Tampere University (Secretary)
Minna Ruokonen, University of Eastern Finland (Vice-chair)
Annukka Saarenmaa, Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Kristiina Taivalkoski-Shilov, University of Turku
WELCOME TO TURKU!
Kääntämisen ja tulkkauksen tutkimuksen symposiumi 