An interesting announcement about a call for papers on literary translation and comparatism was shared some days ago in the translation news section of ProZ.com. The announcement was really interesting so I contacted Paula Meiss, who is one of the founding members, editor-in-chief and translator coordinator of the journal, to learn more about 452°F and this call for papers.

Paula explained that 452°F is an academic journal of literary theory and comparative literature. It was created in 2009 by a group of young researches and university lecturers based in Barcelona, Spain. Its goal is to help pre-doctoral students start publishing their work and also function as a bridge between these young researchers and more established ones. Another goal of the journal is to spread the results of the research in other languages other than English so the journal also accepts papers for publication in Catalan, Spanish, Basque, Portuguese, Italian, Galician and French. Once articles in any of these languages are submitted they make sure the articles are translated into English, Catalan, Spanish and Basque.

Paula also talked a little about the team of translators and proofreaders of the journal. She explained that the team is open to all translators and proofreaders willing to participate as long as they are willing to collaborate once or twice a year translating one or two articles. Volunteers can send their CVs to [email protected].

Regarding the call for papers for the journal’s upcoming issue  she explained that the journal works with monographic sections and the 7th issue will be dedicated to literary translation and comparatism. Even though the journal is not devoted to translation studies, for the 7th issue articles about the relationship  between literary theory and comparative literature as a discipline will be accepted. The lines of research that will be accepted are:

a.    Intersemiotic and interlinguistic translation
b.    Translation and censorship – comparative reception of translation
c.    Literary translations and traditions
d.    Comparative literary translations
e.    Literary translation and criticism

Towards the end of the interview Paula describes the benefits of participating in this type of journal and shares some details about how rewarding her experience has been so far.

You can listen to the podcast here: ProZ.com podcast, 2011-10-28

The deadline for submissions is January 31st 2012. You can find more information here.

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in Translator T. O.  blog.

See: Translator T. O.

If you have any suggestions for possible themes for upcoming podcasts you can send them to romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom.