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BELTRANS

Intra-Belgian literary translations since 1970

Scope of this project

The project Intra-Belgian literary translations since 1970 (BELTRANS) studies the untold history of literary translation flows in Belgium between French and Dutch in the period 1970-2020.

BELTRANS examines the link between intra-Belgian cultural transfers and the mutual knowledge and perception of each other’s culture in a period of increasing regionalisation of the state, which caused a growing distance between Belgium’s linguistic and cultural communities.

Phases of the project

  • Creating FAIR data on contemporary Belgian authors and their works in French and Dutch translation in order to prepare and establish the corpus
  • Mapping and quantitative analysis of intra-Belgian literary translation flows
  • Analysing the roles of actors, institutions and organisations that were involved
  • Studying the reception of the translated texts
  • Contextualising the literary transfers through translation with regard to Belgian cultural and societal evolutions
  • Developing policy guidelines in order to valorise Belgian authors and their works, within Belgium and abroad
  • Valorisation, dissemination and exploitation of the research results for a scientific, professional and cultural public

Partners

The BELTRANS project is financed by BELSPO as part of the BRAIN.be 2.0 programme, and results from the cooperation between:

Duration

2021 – 2025 (4 years)

Contacts

KBR

KU Leuven

UCLouvain

Conference

Follow-up committee

Research activities

Articles

Ann Van Camp and Sven Lieber, “ISNI, a top tool for quality enhancement, smooth data flows and efficient internal processes”. Presented on 28th July 2002 at the 87th IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) / 2022 in Dublin, Ireland.

Clara Folie, “La Grande Guerre en traduction (1970-2020) : une littérature au coeur des disciplines et des enjeux mémoriaux”. In: Contemporanea (october 2022).

Clara Folie, “Une revue comme trait d’union ? Transfert et réception des ouvrages néerlandophones dans les comptes-rendus de la Revue du Nord (1970-2020)”. In: La Revue du Nord (submitted, to be pubished 2024).

Clara Folie, Ewoud Goethals and Timothy Sirjacobs, “La Belgique en traduction : des textes traversant les frontières ou des frontières traversant des textes”. In: Les Plats Pays (april 2023).

Elke Brems, “Bien Étranger: De gebrekkige doorstroom van literaturen in België”. In: FILTER. tijdschrift over vertalen, 27(4), 2021, p. 36-44.

Elke Brems, “An inalienable part of the Flemish artistic heritage”. The global and local circulation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s L’Oiseau Bleu. In: Interférences littéraires, 27 (2), 2022, p. 162-173.

Elke Brems, “Maurice Maeterlinck’s L’Oiseau Bleu: born rather than lost in translation” (article submitted for peer-review).

Ewoud Goethals, “Over grenzen. Drie Nederlandse vertalingen van Caroline Lamarche”. In: De Reactor (februari 2022).

Ewoud Goethals, “Een rebels kind in Gent: Suzanne Lilar, Une enfance gantoise (1976)”. In: Rebellie in de Gentse Letteren: literaire stroppendragers van de middeleeuwen tot nu. Lannoo, 2023, p. 87-96.

Ewoud Goethals. “Entre-deux, van twee kanten : la posture intra-belge de Caroline Lamarche”. In: Textyles (64), 2023, p. 103-118.

Timothy Sirjacobs and Ewoud Goethals, “National poet, national poetry? The production and reception of Lavis à l’encre, an intra-belgian translation, by Charles Ducal”. In: Literary Translation Policy: Cases from the Low Countries. Routledge, 2024 (to be published).

Paradoxes and Misunderstandings in Cultural Transfers / Paradoxes et malentendus dans les transferts culturels, éd. Gonne, Maud ; Roland, Hubert ; Vanasten, Stéphanie ; Smeyers, Elies ; Crombois, Julie. Interférences littéraires, 26 (1), 2022.

Vanasten, Stéphanie ; Roland, Hubert ; Gonne, Maud, “A propos des paradoxes, échecs et malentendus dans les transferts culturels”. In: Paradoxes and Misunderstandings in Cultural Transfers/ Paradoxes et malentendus dans les transferts culturels, 26 (1), 2000, p. 1-23.

Vanasten, Stéphanie ; Roland, Hubert ; Gonne, Maud ; Smeyers, Elies, “Introduction. On paradoxes, failures and misunderstandings in cultural transfers”. In: Interférences littéraires, 26 (1), 2022, p. 24-45.

Presentations

Ann Van Camp (2021, June 8), Presentatie van BELTRANS in “Labs & DH Onderzoeksprojecten bij KBR”, Onderzoeksseminarie KULeuven Bibliotheken, online.

Clara Folie. (2022, July 12), “ ‘For the Homeland’ ? : Two books by Max Deauville and their translations at the heart of the memorial and identity knot of the Great War in Belgium”. 14th International Conference of the Association for Low Countries Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Clara Folie. (2022, October 21), “Une revue comme trait d’union ? Transfert et réception des ouvrages néerlandophones dans les comptes-rendus de la Revue du Nord (1970-2020)”. Franco-Belgian University Relationships in Historical Context From the 19th to the 21st century, University of Lille, laboratoire IRHIS.

Ewoud Goethals (2022, July 12), “A Belgian children’s classic? Casterman’s Martine Children’s Book Series and its Dutch Translation Tiny in the Transnational Publishing Field”. 14th International Conference of the Association for Low Countries Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Ewoud Goethals (2022, May 11), “BELTRANS. Literaire vertaalstromen tussen Vlaanderen en Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles 1970-2020″. SEL-workshop ‘Nederlandse Literatuurstudie in de steigers’, University of Ghent.

Stéphanie Vanasten & Sophie Vandepontseele (2022, March 30), “Les auteurs-traducteurs dans les traductions du livre intra-belges 1970-2020: le projet BELTRANS”. Foire du livre, Brussels. Report by Adrien Verdebout on: https://traduqtiv.com/2023/05/02/8eme-journee-de-la-traduction-de-la-foire-du-livre/.

Sven Lieber (2022, January 18), “The BELTRANS project, Linked Data and Wikidata”. Vorlesungsreihe “Praxis der Digital Humanities” at University of Trier, online.

Sven Lieber (2022, September 14), “The Benefits of International Standards for Research Data Management”. Zenodo.

Sven Lieber and Julie Birkholz (2021, October 19), “Linked Data and Cultural Heritage”. TNT LECTURE SERIES at UCLouvain, online.

Sven Lieber, Ann Van Camp (2022, May 5), “Open Science and Linked Data to Create a FAIR Corpus of Intra-Belgian Book Translations 1970-2020”. DH Benelux 2022 – ReMIX: Creation and alteration in DH (hybrid), Belval Campus, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg and online.

Sven Lieber, Ann Van Camp, Hannes Lowagie (2022, November 28), “A LITL more quality: Improving the correctness and completeness of library catalogs with a Librarian-In-The-Loop Linked Data Workflow”. Semantic Web in Libraries (SWIB) 2022.

Timothy Sirjacobs (2022, December 13), “De krachten bundelen (?): De ‘Collection bilingue’ (1972-1982), uitgegeven bij La Renaissance du Livre als intra-Belgische vertaaltransfer in de vroege fasen van de federalisering”. WOLEC (VUB).

Timothy Sirjacobs (2022, July 12), “Pursuing Paris, Wandering in Wallonia: How Les Noceurs (2010) by Brecht Evens found its home in France and French-speaking Belgium”. 14th International Conference of the Association for Low Countries Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Timothy Sirjacobs and Ewoud Goethals (2022, June 10), “National poet, national poetry? The production and reception of Lavis à l’encre, an intra-belgian translation, by Charles Ducal”. Binnenlandse Vogels, Buitenlandse Nesten.

Workshops

KU Leuven, Universiteit Antwerpen and VUB (2021, December 13-14). Vertaling en Wereldliteratuur. Een Belgisch Perspectief.