Mona Baker's Distinguished Talk

Summary

The 2014 Distinguished Public Talk at the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) welcomed Professor Mona Baker, a world-renowned scholar in translation studies. Her talk, titled 'Subtitling for Protest Movements: Creative Strategies and Political Principles,' highlighted the role of volunteer subtitling in the Egyptian revolution and global protest movements. Baker explored how subtitlers can creatively influence public perception and promote a vision of justice, contrasting place-based movements like the Egyptian revolution with global movements. She also discussed the growing importance of subtitling in media and its role in political activism.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The event is the Transition Interpreting Institute's 2014 Distinguished Public Talk.
• 🌍 The Institute engages with the public, academic scholars, students, and professionals through intellectual events.
• 🏆 The Distinguished Public Talk is an annual event that highlights a new research topic or current issue in translation, interpreting, and foreign languages.
• 👩‍🏫 This year's distinguished speaker is Mona Baker, a renowned scholar in translation studies, ethics, and narrative theory.
• 📖 Mona Baker is the author of several major works, including *In Other Words*, *Translation and Conflict*, and editor of the *Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies*.
• 📺 The talk focuses on subtitling in protest movements, especially in the context of the Egyptian revolution and global collective action.
• 🎥 Volunteer subtitling plays a significant role in political activism and sharing alternative visions of justice outside mainstream media.
• 📢 The session is relevant to the launch of the Institute's MA in Audiovisual Translation, covering subtitling, dubbing, and translation for various media formats.
• 🤝 The projects Mona studies involve filmmakers and activists subtitling to document political events and foster global solidarity.
• ✊ Subtitling enables broader access to political movements, allowing global audiences to engage with local struggles and movements like those in Egypt.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the distinguished public talk organized by the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII)?

The purpose of the distinguished public talk is to shed light on new research topics or current issues in the fields of translation, interpreting, and foreign language. It provides an opportunity for TII's community, including faculty and students, to meet and interact with renowned scholars.

Who was the distinguished speaker for the 2014 event, and what is her background?

The distinguished speaker for the 2014 event was Mona Baker, a world-renowned scholar in translation studies. She is a professor at the University of Manchester and is known for her work in translation and narrative theory, ethics, and as an author of key textbooks in translation studies.

What was the topic of Mona Baker’s 2014 talk?

Mona Baker's 2014 talk was titled 'Subtitling for Protest Movements: Creative Strategies and Political Principles.' The talk focused on the use of translation, particularly subtitling, in protest movements, especially the Egyptian revolution.

Why is the topic of subtitling significant in the context of protest movements?

Subtitling is significant because it helps to communicate the messages of protest movements to a broader, often global audience. It can serve as a tool for activists to present alternative visions of justice and challenge mainstream narratives.

What is the new MA program introduced by TII, and what does it focus on?

TII introduced a new MA program in Audiovisual Translation, which focuses on the translation of audiovisual material such as films and television shows. It covers areas such as dubbing, subtitling, and accessibility services like subtitling for the deaf and audio description for the blind.

What were the two groups involved in the Egyptian revolution that Mona Baker studied?

Mona Baker studied two groups: Mosireen and Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution. Mosireen is a collective of filmmakers and activists documenting the Egyptian revolution, while Words of Women focuses on documenting the experiences of women involved in the revolution.

What role did subtitling play in the work of the Mosireen collective?

Subtitling played a critical role in Mosireen's work by helping them reach a global audience. Their videos, documenting the Egyptian revolution, were subtitled by volunteers into English and other languages, enabling international solidarity and awareness.

How does the Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution project differ from Mosireen?

Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution is a smaller project focused on documenting the stories of women involved in the revolution. Unlike Mosireen, which involves professional filmmakers, this group consists of activists who learned filmmaking as a form of activism.

What are some challenges in subtitling for protest movements mentioned by Mona Baker?

Some challenges include the fast-paced nature of events, the need for quick subtitling to maintain relevance, and the tension between addressing local audiences while also reaching global audiences with accurate translations.

How does Mona Baker's research contribute to our understanding of the relationship between translation and politics?

Mona Baker’s research highlights how translation, especially subtitling, can be a powerful political tool in shaping narratives, fostering global solidarity, and challenging dominant mainstream media portrayals. Her work emphasizes the active role translators can play in social movements.