NOBEL SYMPOSIA™ Literary Translation and Nobel Consecration

Understanding the linguistic, cultural, and material conditions of literary translation is not only essential in exploring how literature is distributed, interpreted and evaluated between languages and markets, but it is also vital for our knowledge of intercultural communication as such.

Since the turn of the millennium, the international field of literary studies has seen a whole range of new approaches to the academic study of literary translation - not least in relation to a renewed theoretical interest in the concept and phenomenon of world literature. Often, these approaches have had a world-systems perspective in discussing translation patterns and strategies as results of an international hierarchy of literary consecration and canonization.

Recently, this discussion has started to include the role of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The 196th Nobel Symposium therefore gathers prominent translators and scholars to discuss the linguistic, cultural, and material conditions of literary translation. Invited participants are asked to submit their papers in advance. These will be distributed among all participants a few weeks before the symposium. Each session will be organised as a roundtable with three invited contributors and a moderator.

All sessions will be held at Rönneberga Konferens in Lidingö just outside Stockholm city. The final and summarizing discussion on May 23 will be accessible for students and other interested auditors using a digital conference platform. After the symposium, a selection of reworked papers will be published with Open Access to further disseminate the findings. 

Contact Karl Ågerup for more information.