MUTRA · MuTra Multidimensional Translation

Final Activity Report Summary - MUTRA (MuTra Multidimensional Translation)

As a practical phenomenon, translation and interpreting is a key global activity today and sets the stage for cross-cultural knowledge transfer and intercultural communication. In its centuries-long tradition it has historically raised many complex and controversial questions in a number of disciplines ranging from theology, philosophy, philology, literature to computer linguistics. As a result of its heterogenous historical development, translation research presented itself as a highly fragmented and compartmentalised discipline at the beginning of the new millennium with modern translation and interpreting tasks typically cutting across interlingual, intralingual and polysemiotic categorisations, potentially involving knowledge and discourse management (e.g. terminology, localisation and community interpreting), non-linear text and hypertext, the transformation of spoken to written (e.g. subtitling or written interpreting), auditory to visual (sign language interpreting) or visual to auditory (audio description for blind audiences) modes. Against this heterogenous background the Marie Curie Series of Conferences 2005 - 2007 and its integrated advanced training and PhD School aimed at providing a common ground for translation and interpretation research in all its aspects to consolidate the fragmented and compartmentalized profile of the discipline. Proceeding from the idea that there is a common (theoretical) core in all translation processes no matter how complicated and varied the languages in question, their textual structures or the media by which they are transmitted may be, Multidimensional Translation (MuTra) set out to develop and implement a general translation concept and methodology, the MuTra concept. This was introduced in a series of three large 5-day conferences and one intensive two week training program followed up by two integrated PhD Schools at Saarland, Copenhagen and Vienna University in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The events welcomed the most renowned translation theory scholars world-wide and leading European broadcasters who entered into a 25 day dialog (over three years) with early stage and more experienced scholars in Europe in search of a shared ground in such diverse translation fields as (live) subtitling and audio description, discourse and knowledge management, sign language, written and media interpreting. Details of the event programs which included team-taught PhD school training and tutorials (a total of 3) and interdisciplinary and intersectorial workshops in audio description, media translation and interpreting, re-speaking for the deaf, (live) subtitling (for the hard of hearing), voice over and speech-to-text, multidimensional LSP and visualisations, new types of interpreting and international project management (19) and a total of (33) expert lectures are available at http://www.euroconferences.info. The Marie Curie Series of Conferences initiated, supported and promoted; - the dissemination of the MuTra concept in invited lectures, workshops and publications at training institutions in Europe. - seven doctoral theses based on the MuTra concept, ready or close to ready to be defended as European PhDs. - the formation of a MuTra network and continuation of the MuTra PhD school at international level (www.translationconcepts.org). - the creation of an international MuTra Publication line with books published on demand and online at http://www.translationconcepts.org (MuTra Publications). The development of the MuTra network, the institutionalisation of the MuTra PhD-School and the creation of a MuTra publication series documents the sustaining success of the conference series and training initiatives.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union