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Article published In:
FORUM
Vol. 21:2 (2023) ► pp.213–235

A critical review of research on translation and memory

Theories, themes, and prospects

| KU Leuven

This article presents a critical review of a bourgeoning interdisciplinary research trend in the English-language literature that integrates Translation Studies and Memory Studies. After sketching its emergence over the past three decades or so, the article recounts main theoretical contributions in this research trend to explain how scholars promote an idea of translation as memory and expound on political and ethical issues. It then reports on analytical scholarship on specific cases of translation that take on different memory themes, including (1) the Holocaust, genocide and mass killing, (2) war, conflict, and other dark memories, and (3) traditions and sites of memory. Finally, to anticipate a more diversified prospect of the research trend, it is suggested that researchers adopt more concepts and theories from recent transcultural memory studies, and attend more to memory cultures, themes, and practices in different, especially non-Western, contexts.

Keywords: translation, memory, politics, ethics, research trend
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research on translation and memory: A chronological sketch
  • 3.Theorizing translation from memory perspectives
    • 3.1Translation as mnemonic practice
    • 3.2Translation, memory, and politics/ethics of the past in the present
  • 4.Translation and memories on the move: Themes and genres
    • 4.1The Holocaust, genocide, and mass killing memories in/as translation
    • 4.2The translation and reception of war, conflict and other dark memories
    • 4.3Translation, tradition, and sites of memory
  • 5.Envisioning future research directions: Two further transcultural considerations
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 14 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.22019.hou
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