Decadence and Translation

The Decadent Movement originated in France during the second half of the nineteenth century, as writers including Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé turned away from social and artistic conventions towards more elaborate, esoteric and transgressive forms of expression. By the 1890s the movement had become European and exerted its influence upon British culture. Decadence became a powerful means of affiliation with a European artistic avant-garde for English-speaking writers including Oscar Wilde, Walter Pater, John Gray, Arthur Symons, George Egerton (Mary Chavelita Dunne), Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson and Michael Field (the pen name of Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper). In Britain, as in other European countries, translation was central to the practice and identity of Decadent writers, who devoted a remarkable amount of energy to translating literary works, putting translation at the heart of their creative practices. Translation was also a way of entering into dialogue with their counterparts abroad - a practical necessity that became a theoretical concern. This activity of Decadent translation encompassed a broad variety of forms ranging from open and credited translation proper to unacknowledged embedded versions of foreign texts. In this way, translation helped to give a distinctive identity to Decadent writing across Europe; for those associated with the Decadent movement, translation became intrinsic to their thinking about the very nature of writing itself.
We are proposing an international network to explore this relationship between Decadence and translation in two key strands. Firstly, we will examine the historical importance of translation for Decadent British writers and their peers on the continent during the final decades of the nineteenth century. Secondly, we will explore the subsequent history of Decadent works in translation from the nineteenth century to the present. The transnational character of Decadence split audiences in the nineteenth century: whilst it proved alluring to some writers and readers, others found it controversial, difficult and ultimately off-putting. For that reason some Decadent texts were censored, bowdlerised or have never been translated. Our project draws historical inquiry into the present by exploring the literary readership for Decadent works in translation from the nineteenth century to the present day. It is deeply relevant in this way to current debates about Britain's social, political and cultural ties to the continent.
We will hold four events at Oxford, London, Strasbourg and Glasgow incorporating scholarly discussion, practical training in translation and public engagement. These will:

*create an international team of scholars from Modern languages, Translation Studies, Comparative Literature and English literature who will work together to identify areas of a common interest within Decadence that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries
*bring together scholars and translators to examine the influence of Decadence upon English-speaking writers at the end of the nineteenth century
*bring together scholars and students of translation with key stakeholders from publishing and the cultural industries in order to explore why some writers and texts are available in translation, whilst others have been neglected
*explore the contemporary market and reading public for translations of Decadent texts
*establish opportunities for bringing Decadent works in translation to the broadest possible audiences, beyond the Higher Education sector
*explore opportunities for funding contemporary translation projects within this field

Manuscripts of poems by Mallarmé at the University of Glasgow will serve as a translation case study. A website documenting our work on these poems will also solicit contributions from the wider public. The project will culminate in a public digital exhibition of these manuscripts alongside various translations.

Who? The general public
How? Readers will benefit from an increased understanding of the linguistic and cultural issues underlying translation.
More and better translations with stronger and clearer supporting materials will be made available.
A wider range of authors and texts will be made more openly accessible.
Members of the public will be encouraged to take an interest in the linguistic and cultural processes behind translation and to participate in acts of translation through the project website.
Open readings at the events held in London and Glasgow will provide an opportunity for members of the public to encounter new, interesting works in translation, as well as hearing translators discuss their works.
The Digital Exhibition will allow visitors to interact with rare and valuable manuscript materials (too delicate to handle directly) via touchscreen technology in a digital format.
As well as allowing members of the public to see intimate documents from Stephane Mallarmé's work as a writer, the touchscreen technology at the Digital Exhibition will allow visitors to access and benefit from informed commentary upon Mallarmé's poetry and life; this technology will also allow them to simultaneously compare different possibilities in translating these works.
Readers with knowledge of foreign languages will be encouraged to participate in online collaborative translation projects through the site website, enhancing their linguistic abilities and comprehension of linguistic and cultural difference.


Who? Translators
How? The project will provide translators with the expertise of literary critics and cultural historians relating to their work, leading to improvements in the overall quality and value of works in translation and future projects for further translation.

Who? Publishers
How? Bringing publishers into dialogue with translators and scholars, will enhance mutual understanding of the market for Decadent texts in translation, especially in relation to postgraduate and undergraduate students. This will lead to the publication and sale of fresh translations that benefit from a spectrum of scholarly and linguistic expertise. These discussions will also improve scholars and translators' understanding of the commissioning process at publishing firms, leading to more targeted and better informed proposals for projects.

Who? Scholars working on the history of Decadence in English literature, Modern Languages and Translation Studies.
How? The project will foster dialogue between scholars in these fields, bridging disciplinary divides and leading to research outputs, collaborations and future funding opportunities.

Who? Scholars from the UK and the Rest of Europe
How? The project will facilitate collaborative dialogue between scholars from Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Latvia and Italy, leading to research outputs, collaborations and future applications to European sources of funding.