Cultures meet here in Canada, says Agnès Whitfield. Literary translation is an essential means of sharing heritages, yet it is a field too often overlooked and undervalued.

That situation is about to improve with the launch of the first volume in a new series called Vita Traductiva. A joint initiative of the Research Group on Literary Translation in Canada at 91��ɫ and , a small Quebec press Whitfield and her husband, artist Daniel Gagnon, have taken over, the series will be published in French and English, and focus on literary translators and translating around the world.

Cover illustration for Vita Traductiva, by Daniel Gagnon

“One of our goals is to bring into English or French important studies on translation from other languages,” says Whitfield. “These kinds of opportunities for international exchange are sadly lacking.”

“Another issue for translation scholars is getting research circulating quickly,” says Whitfield. “Traditional presses have long wait times, library budgets are declining and scholarly books are expensive.”

For this reason, the international peer-reviewed series will be published via the Internet on Open Access sites for scholars, as well as in traditional book form.

Agnès Whitfield

These days, “if a librarian in Canada wanted to organize an exhibition on Romanian culture, she would have a difficult time,” says Whitfield. She wouldn’t know where to find Romanian works translated into English or French, or works written by Canadian writers of Romanian origin, or how the translations were done.

On a broader level, the new series is important because “literature provides a rich source of knowledge about human activity and aspirations, and literary translation plays an essential role in building understanding between communities with different languages and cultures,” argues Whitfield. “Vita Traductiva aims to make an important contribution to the creation, promotion and dissemination of such vital cultural knowledge.”

Following her 2009 study, Whitfield helped found , an international research group based at the University of Oslo, focusing on the different voices in the translation process. Those voices will be expressed in Vita Traductiva.

The name is a reference to the Latin term vita activa (active life) to reflect the active, empirical orientation of the collection and its aim to generate and share more knowledge about translation – particularly between smaller countries – and greater intercultural understanding and respect, says Whitfield.

As series editor, she plans to solicit essays on literary translation and translators from scholars all over the world. Such international reach will be guaranteed with editorial and advisory boards representing 15 countries – from Finland to New Zealand, Portugal to Turkey. Whitfield also draws on 91��ɫ expertise; English Professor Priscila Uppal and humanities and translation studies Professor Susan Ingram are on her editorial and advisory boards.

The first volume of essays will appear this summer and two more in the fall.

The summer volume will focus on the translation of Polish, Czech and Romanian literature for Canadian audiences – and vice versa – and how to find works by Canadians of Polish, Czech and Romanian heritage.

The fall volumes, edited by European colleagues, are based on proceedings of recent Voice in Translation conferences. The first highlights the challenges of capturing narrative voice when translating between Arabic, Polish, English, Finnish, German, Spanish and French.

Whitfield with Voice in Translation group in Copenhagen

The second will probe the role of authorial and editorial voices in translation. It will include a piece by Whitfield on how small Canadian English presses edit and revise translations.

As a new international peer-reviewed publication series, Vita Traductiva is a perfect fit with 91��ɫ’s strategic goal to improve its participation in emerging international research networks and enhance its reputation as a research-oriented university, says Whitfield.

She has played a leading role in compiling previously unavailable bio-bibliographical data on eminent Canadian Francophone and Anglophone literary translators as editor of Writing Between the Lines. Portraits of Canadian Anglophone Translators (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006) and Le Métier du double. Portraits de traducteurs et traductrices francophones (Fides, Collection du CRILCQ, 2005), shortlisted for the Canadian Federation of the Humanities Raymond-Klibansky Prize. (See YFile, April 11, 2006) She was also the editor of L’écho de nos classiques (Éditions David, 2009) on the international translations of two great Canadian novels, Gabrielle Roy’s Bonheur d’occasion (The Tin Flute) and Hugh McLennan’s Two Solitudes.

Whitfield is former president of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies and was bilingual joint chair in Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in 2009-2010.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Over the course of the next year, YFile will be profiling the projects through videos and stories. Today, the camera's spotlight is on Monahan and the story of his inspiration for AIF. 

Patrick Monahan grins when he recalls his “Aha!” moment, which led to the creation of the Academic Innovation Fund. 

Several years ago, 91��ɫ’s vice-president academic & provost had just completed a series of consultations with 91��ɫ community members regarding the , a document that would outline the future academic priorities of the University. What he discovered during that process energized him. 

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“As we went through the White Paper a couple of years ago, what impressed me were the people who participated in that process,” he said. “We sat in focus groups and we talked about our ideas, dreams and aspirations for the University. What was so striking was that people had so many great ideas – there were literally hundreds!”

He discovered the main obstacle preventing these ideas from becoming a reality centred on the lack of resources. Monahan had heard of projects in the United States that provided seed funding for academic initiatives. He thought the idea had merit and turned to his colleagues in the Provost’s Office to see if they could find funding that could be used to create a made-in-91��ɫ solution to turn the ideas into working projects.

His inspiration led to the formation of the Academic Innovation Fund of $2.5 million that would provide an initial investment of resources to bring projects from the drawing board to reality. In the fall of 2010, applications were invited from the University community for funding (up to $200,000 each) to support new initiatives advancing 91��ɫ’s strategic priorities in relation to teaching and learning and the student experience.

The response, he discovered, was nothing short of amazing. “It was just fantastic because of the tremendous energy and participation," he said. “The committee was only able to fund 39 of those projects, but all the project submissions were very interesting and innovative, and showed a real commitment to the University and to our students."

The 39 projects funded include clusters of initiatives that support e-learning, experiential education and the student experience. From a project to enhance how first-year students move from high school to university, to a student-run sustainable business initiative, each of the AIF projects is as diverse as the University community. There is a project to create an online enrolment system for new students, a mentorship program for varsity athletes, a partnership between two faculties to develop a blended learning initiative, a community centred action plan for experiential education, and a project to bring public history into the classroom, to name just a few.

All of the projects, said Monahan, reflect 91��ɫ's DNA. "Each of the projects is about engaging people in these ideas," he said. "I hope that what this does is that it shows people what is possible and that we can build on this energy."

Monahan said that many people have told him how excited they are to see their ideas finally becoming a reality. "What I find so interesting is that there are ideas that would never have occurred to someone sitting in an office here in the 91��ɫ Research Tower or even in a dean's office," he said. "Ideas like a project that we have with refugees in Thailand connecting them with researchers and students here in Toronto or a project to teach area youth how to swim."

The AIF projects provide a concrete example of the potential for innovation and engagement that resides in the 91��ɫ community. "It is an example of the idea that the collective brain is always better then a single brain. If you get one hundred people in a room and get them thinking and talking – you are going to get more ideas than with 10 people, five or one. That is what makes this a really successful initiative so far." 

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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