ALTA42: Sight and Sound

ALTA42: Sight and Sound
November 7-10, 2019, Rochester, NY

Keynote Speakers: Peter Cook and Kenneth Lerner of the Flying Words Project

Words are not simply containers for meaning. As translators, we know that we cannot separate the sense of words from their musicality, from the way they look on the page, from the way they are spoken or signed, or from the cultural and historical contexts in which they appear. The theme for ALTA42 allows us to attend to the visual, aural, oral, gestural, kinetic, and performative aspects of language and literature that shape translation practice. This fall's conference presents panels, readings, roundtables, and workshops that address the theme “Sight and Sound,” broadly conceived.

These forums will consider topics such as: translating rhythm, rhyme, and repetition; translating form; translating ekphrasis and synesthesia; translating dramatic and spoken word texts; translating visual spectacle in theatre; translating screenplays; translating graphic novels and illustrated texts; translating oral literatures; translating lyrics; translating to, from, and between sign languages; empowering language through translation, regardless of language modality.

Programming will also approach the theme of “Sight and Sound” conceptually, culturally, and politically: the translator as performer; the translator as camera; promoting translation’s visibility in the wider literary field; advocating against the silencing of certain groups in the translation community; and supporting certain authors, literatures, or cultures in their efforts to be seen or heard in translation.