Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Academic Support, Communications, Digital resources, Digitisation, Fellowships, Gender studies, History, History of the book, Irish Studies, Library, Literatures in a modern language, Modern History , Romanticism

Regions:

Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom

Summary of research interests and expertise:

 I was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral  Fellow, Institute of English Studies, SAS, University of London. The title of my EU-funded project is:

Book History and Translation History: Copyright, Wages, Censorship, and the (Proto-)Professionalisation of Translators in Nineteenth-Century Britain and Ireland

Summary report on the EU website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/793736/reporting

My research finds its place at the intersection between book history and translation history, with special interest in Irish and British studies, Irish biography, as well as women's history and nineteenth-century studies. As you will see from my publications, I am equally interested in the transatlantic and transnational(ist) links created through travel, migration and translation, and in the sociology of translation from a historical perspective. I find book history, and the history of communication in general, fascinating, and I am very pleased that SAS/IES accepted to host my Fellowship.

Since January 2009 I have been carrying out extensive archival and quantitative book surveys of translations in Ireland printed or published during the long nineteenth century, so far covering over 6,000 books and numerous periodicals, which include many London imprints as well as Irish. I will publish the resulting Irish bio-bibliographical datasets of translators and other agents of translation (publishers, printers etc.), both in print and online. This will take the form of an open-access, searchable database (see URL in "publication", below). I am accordingly very interested in the area of Digital Humanities. Drawing from my research data, I've also been preparing and writing biographical notices of translators from Ireland, so far including one article in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, Ireland's national biographical resource (see list of publications).

Winner of the 2015 Peter Lang Young Scholars Competition in the field of Irish Studies, I have been working on my first monograph, which focuses on nineteenth-century translation and translators in Ireland: Translation in Nineteenth-Century Ireland: Cross-Cultural Encounters.The book also draws material from my doctoral thesis (DCU, 2013) which explores Franco-Irish translation relationships in nineteenth-century Ireland. My PhD research was supervised by Prof. Michael Cronin (TCD, M.R.I.A), who wrote the seminal Translating Ireland (1996). Delayed due to personal and professional circumstances, the publication should hopefully take place in 2021.

Another interest of mine is the support of postdoctoral candidates, particularly early career and independent researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences.. Based on my experience in Ireland, which involved conducting my research as an independent scholar (without funding) for about three years, I've realized first-hand that there isn't enough support out there for those struggling to continue or get back to academic employment after PhD graduation. While I've been using my Facebook Page to post job and grant news for postdocs, I would like to develop further the idea of a support platform in the future, and I've started to gather a few ideas. I welcome suggestions for collaboration in this regard.

Project summary relevant to Fellowship:

 Hosted at the School of Advanced Study, University of London’s unique research-intensive institution, the EU-funded Marie Curie Fellowship will address and exploit the synergies between book history and translation history by combining the researcher’s perspective in the area of translation studies with the expertise and resources available at SAS in the field of book history. Based at the Institute of English Studies, which specializes in the history of the book, manuscript and print studies, the researcher will be able to draw on the expertise of her supervisor, Dr Andrew Nash, Reader in Book History, Deputy Director of IES, and Director of the London Rare Books School. The project will generate new knowledge about the production of English-language translations in the nineteenth century by investigating the relations between translators and their publishers and the “proto-professionalisation” of translators in Ireland and Britain, in a century marked by large-scale changes in print culture and by the increasing professionalisation of authors.

The research will draw on a number of key publishers’ archival records, principally at the British Library and University of Reading. Addressing a lacuna in the history of the book, the project will provide much-needed insights into the working conditions and social circumstances of translators, both male and female, paying special attention to copyright, censorship and translators’ remuneration.

During the course of my Fellowship, I organized a series of events and outreach activities, including a one-hour symposium (online) on “Women Translators and Authorship”, a translation workshop in a public library (Galway City, June 2019); a poetry translation workshop followed by roundtable talks with poet-translators, publishers and academics in Holborn library (London, Nov 2019, Being Human Festival); a book display on censorship, translation & obscenity in the Victorian era. Excellent public feedback on all events.

Summary report on the EU website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/793736/reporting

Short project abstract also available on Cordis (EU website): https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/215190_en.html

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
30-Sep-2022	[Forthcoming 2022] Translation and Book History: Theoretical, Historical and Archival Perspectives Translation and Book History: Theoretical, Historical and Archival Perspectives. Cambridge Elements. Cambridge: CUP.
31-Aug-2021	(Forthcoming) Translation in Nineteenth-Century Ireland: Cross-Cultural Encounters Monographs Translation in Nineteenth-Century Ireland: Cross-Cultural Encounters (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2020)
30-Apr-2021	Towards a Professional Identity: Translators in the Victorian Publisher’s Archive’ Articles Meta 66 : Journal des traducteurs / Meta: Translators' Journal, Special Issue on ‘Translation Archives’ Edited by Anthony Cordingley and Patrick Hersant. no. 1 (2021): 48–72.
14-Sep-2020	Historical Translators of Ireland: A prosopographical and bio-bibliographical study & database of translators in Irish history Research aids Forthcoming (2022). The website is currently under development, and will be developed in several stages (a "Coming Soon" webpage is live).
04-Jun-2019	‘Good Books, Good Translations… or ‘Mental dram-drinking’: Translation and Literacy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’ Chapters in Literacy, Language and Reading in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, ed. by R. Barr, S-A. Buckley and M. O'Cinneide. Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland (Series)(Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019): 139-156
29-Nov-2018	Women Poet-Translators in Mid-Nineteenth Century Ireland: A Socio-Historical Approach Chapters  ‘Women Poet-Translators in Mid-Nineteenth Century Ireland: A Socio-Historical Approach’ in Sociologies of Poetry Translation: Emerging Perspectives, ed. by Jacob Blakesley (London: Bloomsbury, 2018), pp.83-104.
10-Jul-2018	Mary Anne Sadlier’s trans-Atlantic links: Migration, religion and translation Journal articles  'Mary Anne Sadlier’s trans-Atlantic links: Migration, religion and translation,' Atlantic Studies, Special Issue: Atlantic Communities: Translation, Mobility, Hospitality, 15:3, 365-382
29-Nov-2017	Review of the book Irish Cultures of Travel: Writing on the Continent, 1829-1914, by Raphaël Ingelbien (2016) Review « Raphaël INGELBIEN, Irish Cultures of Travel: Writing on the Continent, 1829-1914, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 », Études irlandaises [Online], 42-2 | 2017,
19-Oct-2017	Edmund Cullen M.D., d.1804’ (physician and translator) [Online]  ‘Edmund Cullen M.D., d.1804’ (physician and translator) [Online], Lives of the Presidents Heritage project, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI).
29-Sep-2017	Traveling Correspondents of the Nation (1842-1897): Travel Writing, Translation and Transnationalism Chapters  ‘Traveling Correspondents of the Nation (1842-1897): Travel Writing, Translation and Transnationalism’ in Voyages between France and Ireland: Culture, Tourism and Sport, ed. by B. Bastiat and F. Healy (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2017), pp.95-117.
20-May-2017	Translation, Memory and Heritage: Translators in Ireland and the Making of Trans/cultural Heritage Conference papers  ‘Translation, Memory and Heritage: Translators in Ireland and the Making of Trans/cultural Heritage’ – 12th Annual Conference of AFIS (Association of Franco-Irish Studies), Patrimoine/Cultural Heritage in France and/or Ireland, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 19-20 May 2017. This paper will be incorporated into my forthcoming monograph.
01-Jul-2016	Clarity, Soberness, Chastity: Politics of Simplicity in Nineteenth-Century Translation Chapters ‘Clarity, Soberness, Chastity: Politics of Simplicity in Nineteenth-Century Translation’, in Translating Values: Evaluative Concepts in Translation, ed. by P. Blumczynski and J. Gillespie (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2016), pp.145-167.
11-Dec-2015	“The exile is everywhere alone”: Irish Exiles, Translation and Trans/Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century Conference papers  ‘“The exile is everywhere alone”: Irish Exiles, Translation and Trans/Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century’ – Conference ‘Translation in Exile’, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 10-11 Dec 2015. This paper will be incorporated into my forthcoming monograph, and parts of it were incorporated into the above-quoted article on the ‘Traveling Correspondents of the Nation'.
01-Dec-2015	Knight (Hope-Connolly), Olivia Mary (1828?-1908), also known as ‘Thomasine of the Nation [Online Biography]  ‘Knight (Hope-Connolly), Olivia Mary (1828?-1908), also known as ‘Thomasine of the Nation’ [Online], Dictionary of Irish Biography, ed. by J. McGuire and J. Quinn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
22-Oct-2015	A Path to Perfection: Translations from French by Catholic Women Religious in Nineteenth-Century Ireland Chapters  ‘A Path to Perfection: Translations from French by Catholic Women Religious in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’, in Education, Identity and Women Religious, 1800-1950: Convents, Classrooms and Colleges, ed. by D. Raftery and E. Smith (New York: Routledge, 2015), pp.183-198.
11-Mar-2015	Translation, Gender and Conflict: Women Translating Conflict in Nineteenth Century Ireland Papers  ‘Translation, Gender and Conflict: Women Translating Conflict in Nineteenth Century Ireland’ – Fifth series of the Babel Public Lectures, ‘Language and Conflict’, NUI Galway, 11 March 2015.
30-Apr-2014	For the People, the Republic and the Nation: Translating Béranger in Nineteenth-Century Ireland Chapters ‘For the People, the Republic and the Nation: Translating Béranger in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’ in France and Ireland in the Public Imagination, ed. by B. Keatinge and M. Pierse (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2014), pp.79-97.
02-Apr-2013	Found in Translation: Franco-Irish Translation Relationships in Nineteenth-Century Ireland [Thesis]  ‘Found in Translation: Franco-Irish Translation Relationships in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’. PhD thesis. (Dublin City University, 2013) [Online].
24-May-2012	Found in Translation: Franco-Irish Translation Relationships in Nineteenth-Century Ireland [Article] Journal articles  ‘Found in Translation: Franco-Irish Translation Relationships in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’ [Online] in New Voices in Translation Studies (8), pp.82-98 (2012).

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date

Details

Sep-2021

Towards a professional identity: Translators in the Victorian publisher’s archive PeerReviewed This essay situates itself at the intersection of book history and translation studies, and inquires how the archive, in this instance, those of British publishers, can help us chart the development of the professional literary translator in the nineteenth century. A key period in print culture, during which many cultural, technological and social shifts occurred, the Victorian era saw the rise of the literary profession, the relevance and impact of which on literary translation can be even better understood in the light of developments in British publishing practices. Using hitherto largely untapped primary sources and uncovering a number of significant processes in the publishing history of literary translation, the discussion offers fresh insights into the production of English-language translations in nineteenth-century Britain. Drawing on the archival records of Richard Bentley’s publishing house, including translators’ correspondence and the contractual agreements that underpinned the production and publication of translations, this study inquires into what may be termed the “proto-professionalization” of literary translators in the nineteenth century.

Publications available on SAS-space

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
TRANSACT - Book History and Translation History: Copyright, Wages, Censorship, and the (Proto) Professionalisation of Translators in Nineteenth-Century Britain and Ireland Central Services of the School Project period: 01-Oct-2018 - 31-Dec-2020 Research interests: History of the book
Book History and Translation History: Copyright, Wages, Censorship, and the (Proto-)Professionalisation of Translators in Nineteenth-Century Britain and Ireland See Description above.

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date

Details

25-Nov-2020

Women Translators and Authorship: Sarah Harriet Burney I am running this event as part of my Marie Curie project on translation and book history. The one-hour (online) symposium is envisaged to be the first of a series of events on “Women Translators and Authorship” and will serve two functions. First, the event aims to shine a light on the careers and lives of women who have been engaged in translation throughout history, thereby addressing gaps in research concerning a largely neglected area of female authorship. Second, the aim is to generate interdisciplinary synergies between translation studies and book history by focusing, though not exclusively, on questions of authorship and publishing in translation. Convened by the Institute of English Studies, the event offers an opportunity to highlight and explore the interdisciplinary strands of scholarship on women’s writing and of scholarship on translation. The paucity of biographical and critical material about past translators in general, and female translators more specifically, and the corresponding work of recovery and discovery in which a number of scholars have engaged over the last decades, will be aptly illustrated by Dr Gillian Dow’s presentation on Sarah Harriet Burney (1772–1844), including her relationships with her London-based publishers and her role as a translator. The presentation is followed by a response and discussion. Our invited discussant this time will be Professor Michael Cronin, world-renowned scholar in translation studies and in many other fields of learning. His response and discussion with Dr Dow will be followed by a public Q&A.

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