Translation of ancient texts has recently come back to international headlines with such high-profile examples as Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey (2018), and, in Denmark, the publications of Bibel 2020 by a large committee and of the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh (2019). The Danish training of Classicists is unusual in encouraging graduate students to work on translations alongside their research.
This workshop aims, through short presentations and group discussions, to highlight new or underrepresented issues in translating ancient texts and to reflect on the value of translation in relation to philological activity past and present.
09.00 Registration and coffee
09.30 Welcome and introduction by Helen Van Noorden, AIAS
Panel: Translating Classical Greek genres 1 (chair: Evert van Emde Boas)
09.40 George Hinge (Classical Philology, Aarhus University)
Translating Pindar into Danish
10.10 Kristoffer Maribo (The Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen)
Come along and sing - Translating Greek tragic choral odes into Danish
10.40 Discussion
11.10 Coffee break
Panel: Translating Classical Greek genres 2 (chair: Christian Djurslev)
11.40 Katarzyna Jażdżewska (AIAS)
Between ancient texts and modern readers. Dilemmas of a translator of Greek prose
12.10 Discussion
12.30 Lunch break
Panel: Past and present approaches to scriptural and Classical texts (chair: Jakob Engberg)
13.45 Marianne Pade (Classical Philology, Aarhus University)
Non verbum verbo – theoretical stances and practical examples from fifteenth-century Humanist translation
14.15 Martin Ehrensvärd (Section of Biblical Exegesis, University of Copenhagen)
A Study of Very Difficult Choices: A Report from Seven Years of Translating the Bible
14.45 Discussion
15.15 Tea break
Panel: Philology and translation (chairs: Helen Van Noorden and Katarzyna Jazdzewska)
15.45 Sophus Helle (Berlin) [remote]
The Translation of Philological Crises
16.15 Pause
16.20 David Bloch (The Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen) [remote]
Response / prompts to discussion
16.35: Round-table discussion
19.00: Dinner for speakers and chairs
The workshop is open for all, and free of charge by prior registration. It is possible to attend online or in-person. For online attendance, the link will be sent by email after the registration deadline.
Deadline: Registration closes on 20 February 2022.
The conference is organized by AIAS Fellow Helen Van Noorden, AIAS & Associate Prof. at the University of Cambridge, and hosted and supported by the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS).
