Translation in Medieval Francophone Texts and Manuscripts
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: French Studies
Abstract
The cultural and linguistic landscape in which medieval translation has traditionally been thought has undergone major shifts in recent decades, suggesting that the way in which translation is thought and used in medieval textual cultures is in urgent need of revisiting. It increasingly looks as if modern notions of what translation is and how it is used fail adequately to describe what is occurring in medieval texts and manuscripts, which function in complex multilingual contexts and which frequently fail to distinguish authorship, translation, and adaptation. Although medievalists have been aware of this for some time, the majority of studies of medieval translation to-date have been reluctant to explore the more radical implications of medieval culture's resistance to modern notions of translation, by focusing on a more recognisable relationship of translation (or 'translatio') between Latin and vernacular languages. This project addresses this by critically reconsidering medieval translation in light of recent developments in medieval studies and in modern postcolonial and translation studies. Rather than focusing on sources for vernacular texts, the project explores how, in the context of a changing picture of medieval language and culture, translation can be seen to function practically and conceptually in francophone texts and manuscripts. Within this context, I argue greater attention should be paid to how medieval vernacular writers figure the untranslatable in the form of the impossibility or failure of translation. This extends the more usual source-based approach by focusing attention less on how sources are translated and more on the cultural, linguistic and conceptual functions that medieval translation performed, which are often significantly shaped by a relationship to the boundaries of the culturally or humanly intelligible. The project is unconventional in bringing manuscript and other medieval textual evidence into dialogue with modern theoretical models, looking at examples ranging from saints' lives to bestiary manuscripts and nonsense verse. The project thus demonstrates how translation in medieval francophone contexts is much more than simply a matter of relations between texts and languages; in doing so, it breaks new ground in a well-established area of medieval studies and offers ways of defining and approaching translation that also have a relevance to more modern debates.
Planned Impact
Bringing to light new or understudied material with a cultural and historical relevance to England and France
Introducing the public to usually inaccessible manuscripts held by French and UK libraries in ways that enhance public knowledge and understanding of these documents
Enabling participating libraries to demonstrate the interest of their collections to the public and - by participating in a series of linked events - to attract visitors from outside the immediate locality
Creating ressources offering wider, more permanent access to materials and ideas discussed in the events and exhibitions
Introducing the public to usually inaccessible manuscripts held by French and UK libraries in ways that enhance public knowledge and understanding of these documents
Enabling participating libraries to demonstrate the interest of their collections to the public and - by participating in a series of linked events - to attract visitors from outside the immediate locality
Creating ressources offering wider, more permanent access to materials and ideas discussed in the events and exhibitions
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Emma Campbell (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Campbell E
(2018)
The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Politics
Campbell E
(2019)
Translating Gender in Thirteenth-Century French Cross-Dressing Narratives:
in Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Campbell E
(2019)
Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World
Campbell E
(2020)
Sound and Vision
in Romanic Review
Campbell E
(2014)
The Time of Translation in Wauchier de Denain's Histoire des moines d'Égypte
in Florilegium
Campbell E
(2013)
Political Animals: Human/Animal Life in Bisclavret and Yonec
in Exemplaria
Campbell E
(2012)
Rethinking Medieval Translation: Ethics, Politics, Theory
| Description | Focusing on French - one of the most important and widely-written European languages of the medieval period - this project responds to the AHRC's call to embed the linguistic study of translation in a broader cultural and historical context. The book that came out of the project - provisionally called 'Translation and Untranslatability in Medieval Francophone Texts and Manuscripts' - draws on scholarship in postcolonial and translation studies to consider a range of twelfth- and thirteenth-century material, including works attributed to Marie de France, romances by Continental authors (e.g. Chrétien de Troyes, Philippe de Rémi), thirteenth-century jargon texts, and Anglo-Norman bestiary manuscripts, as well as saints' lives and devotional literature. Unlike many studies of medieval translation, the book is not primarily about the practice or theory of vernacular translation. Instead, it addresses two, related issues: first, how translation is not necessarily about transfer of meaning between texts, and, second, how redefining translation in this way enables a more expansive exploration of uses of translation that fall outside the more familiar, more studied model of Latin-to-French translation. The book therefore considers translation from Latin alongside other kinds of translation either between French and other vernacular languages or between different kinds of French (different dialects of French, different registers, etc.). Similarly, the book examines translation between texts alongside other types of translation occurring within a single text, with or without any reference to sources (e.g. through the glossing of terms in other languages or through the use of jargon). As well as considering individual texts, I also look at translation in medieval manuscripts (e.g. the way different visual and linguistic registers in Anglo-French bestiary manuscripts are engaged in a multilingual, multimedia form of translation). The book's focus on untranslatability is part of this reframing of medieval translation. I explore how translatability and untranslatability are mutually implicated in medieval texts and how writers, as well as being concerned with what can or must be translated, also make use of the untranslatable - in the form of the impossibility or failure of translation. What this approach contributes to more established source-based analyses of medieval translation is a focus on how medieval writers are not always primarily concerned with translating the meaning of a source text - they can, for example, be attempting to translate meanings that wholly or partially escape linguistic expression or may be using the failure of translation deliberately to comment on themes developed in the texts they're writing. The project thus has important implications for the study of medieval translation as well as for contemporary thinking about translation. In medieval contexts, although the book considers more conventional kinds of interlingual and intertextual translation, it takes a different approach to much of this material and looks at it alongside other instances of translation that are considerably less studied. In more modern contexts, the project's contribution goes beyond straightforward historical comparison: by actively engaging with modern theories and methodologies, the project suggests how period-specific insights into the workings of translation practices in textual cultures other than our own can help us re-examine concepts that underpin the study of translation today. |
| Exploitation Route | The new ways of thinking about translation developed in my work are already being taken up by academic colleagues working in various areas of Medieval Studies. I remain involved with a medieval translation collective that I was instrumental in founding and which has already given rise to one volume of essays which I co-edited with Robert Mills (entitled 'Rethinking Medieval Translation: Ethics, Politics, Theory'). The next meeting of the group will be in April 2015 where issues of translation will be discussed in the context of boundaries and boundary crossing. My co-edited book has received some excellent reviews already and will be discussed at sessions at the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo and the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in 2015. I am involved with the strand of panels planned for the Leeds Congress and will use these panels to develop the ideas explored both in the edited book and in my monograph. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | The project's focus on translation in medieval francophone texts and manuscripts (including the French of England) means that this research deals directly with new or understudied material with a cultural and historical relevance to both France and England. The linguistic and conceptual difficulties involved in studying much of this material means that some of the detail of this research is inaccessible to non-specialists. However, those parts of my project which consider images alongside textual material are more accessible to a wider public. An obvious point of access to my work on translation is the research I conducted on medieval bestiaries, which are texts dealing with the interpretation and significance of animals, often containing illustrations. I am currently discussing an exhibition on bestiaries with librarians in the Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. An exhibition is currently proposed for 2016 (though the exact date will depend on building work at the Library). I plan to organise a series of linked events around this exhibition, including talks and symposia which would be open to the general public as well as to the academic community. My work on medieval translation has also been used in two schools events on the work of Marie de France: one afternoon workshop involving 30 pupils in year 10 from Ashlawn School, Rugby, and one masterclass involving 12 students in years 12 and 13 at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham. Further schools events are planned for 2015. These events have worked more closely with some of the textual and conceptual issues raised by medieval translation and dealt with in my research. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Education |
| Description | '"Living On" in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès', research paper (Medieval French Seminar, Oxford) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to an audience of colleagues and students (graduate and undergraduate), followed by discussion. Organisers reported higher than average attendance at the seminar from colleagues and students (graduate and undergraduate). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | 'Bodies of Knowledge in French Verse Bestiaries', research paper (California) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk given as part of a two-day symposium organised by the Getty Museum and University of California, Los Angeles. The event was free and open to the public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/lectures/ark_after_noah_symposium.html |
| Description | 'Gender and/as Translation in Medieval Cross-dressing Narratives', STVDIO Seminar (Warwick) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Research seminar delivered to an audience of approximately 20 colleagues, postgraduates, and undergraduate students. The talk generated lively discussion and cross-disciplinary exchange. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | 'Genre Trouble: Translating Textual and Sexual Identities in Old French Hagiography and Romance', invited talk, Medieval French Seminar (Cambridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | a lecture delivered to a mixed audience of colleagues and postgraduates working on European medieval literatures and cultures. The talk generated much discussion and offers of future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | 'Genre Trouble: Translating Textual and Sexual Identities in Old French Hagiography and Romance', Distinguished Lecture (Fordham) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to a mixed audience of colleagues, students (graduate and undergraduate), and members of the public, followed by discussion. Exchanges with members of the public as well as colleagues; invitations to discuss my work with colleagues working in other areas of the Humanities (history, philosophy, German Studies). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 'Human/Animal Life in Marie de France's Lais', Distinguished Lecture (Cornell University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Lecture to a mixed audience of colleagues, students, and members of the public, followed by discussion. Organisers reported a positive response from colleagues within Cornell and from outside the university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | 'Medieval Bestiaries, Actor-Network Theory, and the Agency of Sound', research paper (Camargo Foundation, Cassis) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a collaborative residential workshop on 'Medieval Assemblages' organised at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis. The workshop was designed with the intention of exploring connections between the philosophical project of contemporary French theorist Bruno Latour and medieval studies. Material circulated and discussed at the event will be published in a special edition of a journal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 'Medieval Anglo-Norman Bestiary Manuscripts', research paper (International Medieval Society, Paris) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Informal paper followed by discussion with colleagues and students based in Paris. Organisers reported higher than usual attendance at the session and a positive response to the paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | 'Querying the French Vernacular', Querying the Vernacular Roundtable (Warwick) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Interdisciplinary exchange with colleagues working on English, Italian, and Latin traditions. Further collaborative ventures agreed between colleagues at Warwick and those working at Queen Mary, University of London. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/calendar/medieval_roundtable_poster.pdf |
| Description | 'The Changing Forms of Wauchier de Denain's Histoire des Moines d'Egypte', conference (Cambridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of connections between my work on translation and the findings of another AHRC-funded initiative looking at the circulation of medieval francophone literature outside France. Invitations to exchange work with colleagues in other institutions (Cambridge, Kings, UCL, St Andrews, Amsterdam etc.); further collaboration with colleagues involved in the conference and in the Medieval Francophone Literature and Culture Outside France project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.medievalfrancophone.ac.uk/2013-conference/ |
| Description | 'The Ethics of Medieval Translation', Distinguished Lecture (Ann Arbor, Michigan) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Lecture to a mixed audience of colleagues, students, and members of the public, followed by discussion. Organisers reported a positive response to the talk from colleagues and students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | 'The Ethics of Medieval Translation', invited lecture (Exeter) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | invited research paper delivered to a mixed audience as part of the University of Exeter's Centre for Translating Cultures programme. The talk generated cross-disciplinary, cross-period discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | 'The Past, Present, and Future of Translation Studies: A Roundtable' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Roundtable involving an international panel drawn from different areas of Translation Studies. The event discussed how historical/premodern translation might be better integrated into contemporary translation studies, as well as considering future directions for this field of research. The event was well attended (approx. 35-40 people) and led to a lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 'The Scandals of Medieval Translation: Thinking Difference in Medieval Francophone Texts and Manuscripts', Distinguished Lecture (Yale) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | The presentation generated questions and discussion involving students and colleagues in various departments, working both on medieval literature and on other areas. Interdisciplinary dialogue between colleagues working in different fields. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 'The Time of Translation in Wauchier de Denain's Histoire des Moines d'Egypte', workshop (Durham University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Pre-circulated workshop paper/ presentation followed by in-depth discussion. Further workshops and sessions at conferences will be organised to develop the research network; my contribution will be published in revised form as a journal article. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | 'Thinking Through French Translation' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Session on intralinguistic and intermedial translation based on medieval French examples. 12 Year 13 pupils from Ancestor Grammar attended. The session was designed to enhance students' learning at A-Level. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | 'Translation in Medieval Francophone Texts and Manuscripts', AHRC workshop (Senate House, London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Networking event organised by Professor Charles Forsdick enabling AHRC award holders to share ideas. Cross-disciplinary exchange with other colleagues also conducting research under the AHRC theme of 'Translating Cultures'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Approaches to Translation Workshop (Warwick) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Afternoon workshop exploring the methodological questions raised by working on translation in different research areas, as well as areas of possible overlap and interdisciplinary dialogue. Other participants included Prof. Caroline Rossi (Université Stendhal-Grenoble 3), Mónica Martin-Castaño, Prof. Ingrid de Smet, Valentina Abbatelli, and Eddie Sengchi Hsu (University of Warwick). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Multilingual Communication Roundtable, International Medieval Congress (Leeds) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of questions of multilingualism in different areas of the medieval world. Agreement to organise a similar session at the Congress in 2015 in response to interest from colleagues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/archive.html |
| Description | Multilingual Communication Roundtable, International Medieval Congress (Leeds) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A roundtable discussion of questions of multilingualism in different areas of the medieval world involving colleagues from the United States and the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2015.html |
| Description | School session on 'Bisclavret' (Warwick) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This session was conducted as part of a university campus visit by Ashlawn School, Rugby. 30 pupils in year 10 read some medieval literature in modern French translation; I gave a short lecture and showed a clip from an animated film retelling the story they had read; we discussed the issues of translation and adaptation arising from this; and they produced some creative writing in French based on the medieval story. The school has indicated interest in future events and pupils reported the session changed the way they thought about French literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | School session on Marie de France (Faversham) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Masterclass for 12 students in years 12 and 13 at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham. Students read some assigned medieval literature in modern French translation; I gave a short presentation; and we discussed issues arising from their reading. The school requested another visit in 2015. The Head of French at the school reported in September 2014 that my visit had been instrumental in encouraging a number of pupils to pursue Modern Languages at A-Level or university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Thinking Through French Translation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Session on intralinguistic and intermedial translation based on medieval French examples. 20 pupils (Years 11, 12, and 13) from Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham attended. The session was designed to enhance students' learning at GCSE/A-Level. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Translation in Marie de France's 'Lais', class visit (Ann Arbor, Michigan) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Class visit involving a group of 15 undergraduate students at Ann Arbor. Students read some of my unpublished work and asked questions about it; a number reported changes to their thinking about translation during the session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |