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Translation and Meaning
Translation and Meaning
The International Maastricht-Lódz Duo Colloquium


1. Organisation
The overall organisation of the International Maastricht-Lódz Duo Colloquiums is in the hands of the Department of Translation and Interpreting of the Maastricht School of International Communication of Hogeschool Zuyd (Maastricht, The Netherlands) and the Department of English Language of the University of Lódz (Lódz, Poland). The representative for Maastricht is Drs. Marcel Thelen and for Lódz Prof. Dr. Habil. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszcyk.

The International Maastricht-Lódz Duo Colloquiums are organised every 5 years and consist of two parts in one and the same year: one in Maastricht, the so-called Maastricht Session, and one in Lódz, the so-called Lódz Session. Both Sessions have their own organising committees. The chair of the Maastricht Organising Committee is Drs. Marcel Thelen and of the chair of the Lódz Organising Committee is Prof. Dr. Habil. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk.

2. Main theme and sub-themes for both Sessions
The overall aim of the International Maastricht-Lódz Duo Colloquiums is to provide an international forum for discussion between translation/interpreting theorists and practitioners on issues of meaning in translation and interpreting.

The central theme for both the Maastricht and the Lódz Sessions is "Translation and Meaning". Suggested sub-themes for both Sessions are:
  1. meaning in translation/interpreting from the point of view of:
    1
    1. cognitive sciences (e.g. think-aloud protocols and other modes of reflection, prototypicality, etc.)
    2. computer-assisted translation training, electronic teaching/learning environments, distance teaching/learning
    3. corpus linguistics and language corpora
    4. the history of translation
    5. lexicology, lexicography
    6. local/national/international translation/interpreting programmes
    7. machine translation, machine-aided translation, other computer aids, combinations of computer aids
    8. new theoretical/practical developments
    9. philosophy / the philosophy of language, etc.
    10. pragmatics, semantics, semiotics
    11. psycholinguistics, psychology
    12. sociolinguistics/sociology, ~ and minority status, institutionalised multilingualism, interculturality, cultural identity
    13. software localisation
    14. subtitling, dubbing, sign language. voice-over
    15. terminology, conceptuology, expert systems (e.g. term-word distinction, automated term extraction, etc.)
    16. text linguistics (e.g. text typology, text analysis, etc.)
    17. the interplay between theory and practice
    18. translation theory, translation studies
    19. various types of translating/interpreting
    2
    1. the relation between translator/interpreter and client/customer
    2. the student of translation/interpreting
    3. the translation trainer/the trainer of interpreting
    4. the translator/interpreter


  2. meaning in the translation/interpretation of:
    1
    1. the language of economics / business
    2. the language of law / politics
    3. the language of media and the arts
    4. the language of medicine / biology
    5. the language of science / technology / IT
    6. the language of tourism/leisure
    2
    1. holy scriptures
    2. literature
    3. LSP vs. general language vs. phraseology vs. terminology, etc.
    4. allusions, figurative language, jokes, metaphors, etc.


  3. quality assessment of translation/interpreting and modes/modalities of training

  4. The role of translation methods/strategies in:
    1. the actual practice of translating/interpreting
    2. the training of translation/interpreting
Note that this list is not exhaustive.

In principle, the Maastricht Sessions will be geared towards practice, and will deal with practical aspects of the central theme and the various sub-themes, and the Lódz session will be geared towards theory, and will deal with theoretical aspects.

Participation is open to translators/translation companies, interpreters, teachers of translation/interpreting, linguists, terminologists, terminographers, computer specialists, lexicographers, publishers, etc. Participation in both sessions is welcomed. For both sessions the number of participants is limited.

The Maastricht Sessions are, in principle, scheduled for the first half of the year, and the Lódz Sessions for the second half of the year that a Duo Colloquium takes place. The dates will be approximately the same as for previous occasions (see previous Duo Colloquiums).

3. Previous Duo Colloquiums
The dates of previous Duo Colloquiums are:


1990:

4-6 January (Maastricht session)

+

20-22 September (Lódz session)

1995:

19-22 April (Maastricht session)

+

22-24 September (Lódz session)

2000:

26-29 April (Maastricht session)

+

21-24 September (Lódz session)

2005

18-21 May (Maastricht session)

+

23-25 September (Lódz session)

Of each Session a volume of proceedings was published (see the book series of Translation and Meaning, editors: Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk). Thus far, 7 volumes have been published. All volumes of proceedings (except the first one) were published by the Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting of Hogeschool Zuyd:

  1. Translation and Meaning, Part 1. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 1990 Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 4-6 January 1990. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. 366 pp. ISBN 90-726140-3-8.
  2. Translation and Meaning, Part 2. Proceedings of the Lódz Session of the 1990 Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Lódz, Poland, 20-22 September 1990. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen, editors. 472 pp. ISBN 90-801039-1-8.
  3. Translation and Meaning, Part 3. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 2nd International Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 19-22 April 1995. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. 610 pp. ISBN 90-801039-2-6.
  4. Translation and Meaning, Part 4. Proceedings of the Lódz Session of the 2nd International Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Lódz, Poland, 22-24 September 1995. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen, editors. 591 pp. ISBN 90-801039-3-4.
  5. Translation and Meaning, Part 5. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 3rd International Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 26-29 April 2000. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. 496 pp. ISBN 90-801039-4-2.
  6. Translation and Meaning, Part 6. Proceedings of the Lódz Session of the 3rd International Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Lódz, Poland, 22-24 September 2000. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen, editors. 561 pp. ISBN 90-801039-5-0.
  7. Translation and Meaning, Part 7. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 4th International Maastricht- Lódz Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 18-21 May 2005. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. 518 pp. ISBN 978-90-801039-6-2.

Part 8 is expected in the course of 2008.

Likewise, of each forthcoming Session a volume of proceedings will be published by the same publisher (as of 1 January 2003: the Department of Translation and Interpreting, Maastricht School of International Communication, Hogeschool Zuyd)



4. Next Duo Colloquium
The next International Maastricht-Lodz Duo Colloquium (with a Session in Maastricht and one in Lodz scheduled for 2010.