Pre-conference workshop, International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting (IPCITI), 25^th October 2018.                                   

Workshop convenors: Jan Buts, Henry Jones and Luis Pérez-González

Abstract: Questions of power and ideology are central to translation and interpreting studies. The study of literary censorship, postcolonial identity construction, or institutional norms constraining translational latitude – to give but a few examples – have long been recurring themes that scholars have explored almost exclusively from a qualitative perspective. Over the last two decades, however, corpus-based translation studies has made great strides in revealing the scope and impact of power differentials on translated texts – including, but not limited to, media representations of sexual and ethnic minorities, discursive practices fuelling socio-political conflict, conversational dynamics between institutional interactants and lay people, and even interpersonal disputes in filmic dialogue. As the range of affordances they offer continues to grow, computer-held corpora represent a powerful heuristic tool to interrogate large collections of translated data and provide analysts with sound quantitative insights into translational behaviour. After an introductory overview of recent developments in corpus-based translation studies, participants will be provided with the opportunity to gain a practical understanding of the possibilities and challenges opened up by a corpus-based approach to the study of translation, power and ideology. Specifically, we will explore the variety of ways in which concordancing software can be used to identify patterns across large bodies of text and discuss the problems of de-contextualisation inherent to this mode of research. This session will be interactive, using buzz groups and a series of guided practical tasks. The corpus data participants will work with during this workshop are derived from the Genealogies of Knowledge corpus, a resource that is being built with the specific aim of charting changes in the use of key concepts informing thought on the body politic and on scientific expertise. The corpus is a multilingual collection of texts facilitating both diachronic and synchronic research approaches, and is aptly designed to investigate the process of translation and transformation that shape the nexus of knowledge and power.

Translation Studies Workshop, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar, 24^th February 2019.                                   

Workshop convenors: Mona Baker, Jan Buts and Henry Jones

Abstract: This session began by introducing the objectives, methods and resources developed as part of the Genealogies of Knowledge project. Through a series of practical activities, students were then shown how to manipulate the corpus analysis software to pursue important research questions for the field of translation studies, as well as for the wider (digital) humanities. Specifically, we explored how to select appropriate subcorpora, how to generate word frequency lists, key approaches to investigating collocation and the ways in which we might begin to interpret the linguistic patterns observed.

Workshop, Shanghai International Studies University, China, 15^th November 2019.                                   

Workshop convenors: Mona Baker and Jan Buts 

Abstract: Genealogies of Knowledge is an interdisciplinary project and associated Research Network that brings together scholars of translation studies, classics, Islamic philosophy, Greek medicine and digital culture, in addition to specialists in software development and data visualization. The project develops resources and methodologies that support research into the role of translation and other forms of mediation in negotiating the meanings of key political and scientific concepts throughout history, and has created a unique set of electronic corpora in several languages and a range of innovative software tools with which to interrogate them. Both the corpora and the software are freely accessible to the research community, and the design of the project is readily adaptable to different language combinations and historical settings.

This workshop will offer hands on experience of working with the software tools and the Modern and Internet English corpora created by the project. After a brief overview of the project and the design of the corpora, we will demonstrate the usefulness of the various visualization tools available through our freely accessible software interface and coach attendees in using them to interact with the corpora in meaningful ways. The workshop is designed to help inspire, influence and support future research in the digital humanities, and to suggest possible extensions of the Genealogies project to Chinese, to different historical moments, and/or to different constellations of concepts than those currently being examined by the Genealogies team.

Workshop report (in Chinese) available here: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gcL7iJ5RNSlNxvjdOYolJw 

Workshop, Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, 6^th March 2020.                         

Workshop convenors: Jan Buts and Henry Jones

Abstract: Genealogies of Knowledge is an interdisciplinary project and associated Research Network which seeks to develop corpus-based methodologies in order to investigate the role of translation and other forms of mediation in negotiating the meanings of key political and scientific concepts throughout history. This workshop aims to demonstrate the potential of the corpus analysis tools and resources created by the project team through a series of hands-on activities.

Buts, J. (2019) ‘Revolutionary Shadow Play: Contours of reference in a corpus of internet texts from Roar Magazine’ — Genealogies of Knowledge Workshop, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar, 25^th February.                        

Jones, H. (2019) ‘Shifting Characterisations of the ‘Common People’ in English Retranslations of Thucydides: A Corpus-based Analysis’ — Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies Seminar Series, University of Manchester, UK, 5th December. https://bit.ly/CTIS-Seminar-Jones 

Jones, H. (2019) ‘Retranslating Thucydides as the Model ‘Scientific’ Historian: A Corpus-Based Analysis’ — Genealogies of Knowledge Workshop, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar, 25^th February.

Jones, H. (2018) ‘Corpus-based Translation Studies: Insights from the Genealogies of Knowledge project’ — Digital Approaches to Ancient and Modern Texts, University of Manchester, UK, 12^th December.