Conference "The Wrong Direction: Early Modern Translation into Latin"
Short Report on the Conference
At the conference, 30 scientists, including 15 speakers, from Europe and the US, came together to discuss Latin as the target language in various early modern contexts, translation processes, and networks. Organizers Julia Heideklang and Prof. Dr. Anja Wolkenhauer were delighted that the conference sparked interest with the many guests and in the media.
During the conference, the sheer number and variety of translation processes became evident, emphasizing Latin with its various functions within early modern multilingualism and its many ‚language biotopes‘ (Sprachbiotope). Actors strategically used and evaluated the frequently invoked continuity of the Latin language and its literature quite differently (e.g., as semantic surplus, an indicator of status or importance, or as a means to internalize regional issues). Even aspects that had not yet received much attention, albeit from well-known historical contexts, were discussed anew, for instance, the fascinating number and importance of translations into Latin produced from Luther’s writings as presented by Stefan Rhein in his talk on „Lutherus latinus.“
Finally, the conference outlined a few tasks for future research: Self-translations and collective writing/authorship were, without a doubt, significant phenomena but will need further discussions. Aside from the various functions of translating into Latin, single contexts emerged when Latin was explicitly not perceived as the adequate target language. The precise relation of Latin, Greek, and other ancient languages within the early modern multilingual language system must be mapped out in more detail. Bringing together the international projects and their catalogs will prove an excellent first step in supporting single in-depth case studies with an extensive quantitative registration, contextualizing them within larger trends and amidst different shifts. The results will be published as a collected volume.
Read and download the more detailed proceedings here.
Conference "The Wrong Direction", April 13-15 in 2023
The Wrong Direction: Early Modern Translations into Latin
Based on our research in the context of the DFG project Versio latina, we aim to change our perspective decidedly and to focus particularly on early modern Latin translations, looking, as Peter Burke once articulated ‚into the wrong direction‘ (Burke 2007). What are their functions? Who translated and for what kind of readership; which expectations were placed on these translations by translators, editors, and printer-publishers? Were they successful, reprinted, or overruled by rival products, or was their efficiency augmented by being intermediary versions for translations into other languages?
You can read a more detailed concept here.
Program
You can download the conference program as a flyer or as a poster.
04/13/2023
1.15 p.m Julia Heideklang/Anja Wolkenhauer (Tübingen) Welcoming and Introduction
2 p.m. Andreas Gipper (Mainz-Germersheim) Lateinische Wissenschaftsübersetzungen in der frühen Neuzeit im Spannungsverhältnis von Vernakularisierung und Horizontalisierung
3 p.m. Sara Miglietti / Marco Spreafico (London) Writing Bilingually, 1465-1700: A New Project on Early Modern Self-Translation
4.30 p.m. Lucia Bertolini (Novedrate) Il bilinguismo “integrale” di Leon Battista Alberti: il caso delle latinizzazioni
5.30 p.m. Marianne Pade (Aarhus) The Heroic Age: Translation into Latin in Fifteenth-Century Italy
04/14/2023
9 a.m. Raphael Schwitter (Bonn/Zürich) Non quidem per omnia felicissime redditum — Reformatorischer Anspruch und translatorische Praxis in der Publizistik Heinrich Bullingers (1504-1575)”
10.30 a.m. Stefan Rhein (Lutherstadt Wittenberg) Lutherus Latinus
11.30 a.m. Julia Frick (Zürich) Proverbia latina: Literarische Räume und Reichweiten deutsch-lateinischer Interaktion in der Frühen Neuzeit
1.30 p.m. Bernhard Söllradl (Salzburg) Historie and historia: Latein und die Volkssprache im historiographischen Werk John Lesleys
2.30 p.m. Giuseppe Eugenio Rallo (St. Andrews) Translating/Adapting Characters, Models, Languages, Plays, and Cultures: Giambattista della Porta’s La Sorella and Samuel Brooke’s Adelphe
4 p.m. Andrew Laird (Providence, USA) Legitimation, Representation, Canonization, Elucidation: Four Modes of ‘Translating’ Nahuatl Texts from 16th-Century Mexico into Latin
5 p.m. Reinhold F. Glei (Bochum) In die richtige Richtung: Die epilinguistische Übersetzung ins Lateinische Unfortunately, the talk had to be cancelled.
04/15/2023
9 a.m. Nathaniel Hess (Cambridge) Malign mallets and Melting Snow: Transalpine Responses to Poliziano’s Callimachus
10.30 a.m. Vittoria Vairo (Neapel) Imperfect Translations, Failed Translations: The Case of Pausanias’ versio latina between the 15th and the 16th Century
11.30 a.m. Fabio Zinelli (Paris) "Dressing in Latin" from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period: A Research Project Review / "Sich in die lateinische Sprache kleiden" vom Mittelalter bis in die Frühe Neuzeit: Ein Forschungsprojekt im Rückblick
1.15 p.m. Julia Heideklang/Anja Wolkenhauer (Tübingen) Concluding Discussions and Summary
Take a closer look at the planned talks! Our abstract booklet presents all abstracts bilingually.