Study Group on Contemporary Catalan Translation (GETCC)
In 2003, after Jordi Arbonès’ family donated his personal legacy, the UAB set up the Jordi Arbonès Chair of Translationwith the aim of researching into literary translation. This compelled a group of lecturers to work together on various aspects of translation history and expand the research and promotion of cultural heritage of translations in especially adverse circumstances: during the Franco dictatorship and exile years, and heritage literary translations since 1975. The group's approach to the phenomenon of translation is based on theoretical, linguistic, socio-linguistic, and socio-cultural perspectives.
The Study Group on Contemporary Catalan Translation(GETCC) is part of the UAB Department of Translation and Interpreting & East Asian Studies, and now has the recognition of a consolidated group by the Agency for Administration of University Grants and Research (AGAUR). It has received funding for two R&D&i coordinated projects in state competitive calls, with the group Gender Studies: Translation, Literature, History and Communication, at the University of Vic: «La traducción en el sistema literario catalán: exilio, género e ideología (1939-2000)» (FF12010-19851-C02-01) and «La traducción catalana contemporánea: censura y políticas editoriales, género e ideología (1939-2000)» (FF12014-52989-C2-1-P).
Currently, the GETCC is led by Montserrat Bacardí and other members include researchers Mercè Altimir, Carles Biosca, Josefina Caball, Carles Castellanos, Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, Ramon Farrés, Judit Fontcuberta, Montserrat Franquesa, Teresa Iribarren, Jordi Jané-Lligé, Jordi Mas López, Francesc Parcerisas, Joaquim Sala-Sanahuja, Mireia Sopena and Dolors Udina, as well as PhD candidates Pep Sanz and Lara Estany. Most members are linked to the UAB, although researchers from the University of Barcelona, the Open University of Catalonia and the University of Glasgow also form part of the group.
Projects and Research
Numerous contributions from the members of the research line «Translation and the Franco Regime» have focused on the study of translation under the harsh conditions of Franco’s Spain, during which Catalan translation was banned for practically two decades, until the creation of publishing houses in the 1960s. In this regard, noteworthy works include La traducció catalana sota el franquisme(2012), by Montserrat Bacardí, the collective book Traducció i censura en el franquisme(2016) and numerous articles by Jordi Cornella-Detrell, Jordi Jané-Lligé and Mireia Sopena.
In addition to the legacy of Jordi Arbonès, which marked the start of the “Visions” collection by Punctum publishers, a collection which brings together letters between translators and different authors in Catalan literature, the GETCC currently guards the documentary collection of the following writers, translators and editors: Francesc Arnó, Josep Pedreira, D. H. Rosenthal and Rafael Tasis. This heritage has given way to the publication of several translations which had remained unpublished.
Thanks to the documentation provided by the Fons Arbonès, the group has long investigated the possibilities of research into «Translation and Exile», a researchfield that until then seemed rather barren. Based on a series of set approaches, the group studied the work of Francesc Arnó, Agustí Bartra, Gràcia Bassa, Enric Martí i Muntaner, Anna Murià, Joan Oliver, Teresa Pàmies and Ramon Xuriguera, which has allowed it to delve into the vestiges of this imposed practice: the literary production and translation away from Catalonia.
One of the bases of this group is that it is composed of some of the most prestigious active translators in the country, whose extensive work has been recognized with several awards (Josefina Caball, Ramon Farrés, Montserrat Franquesa, Francesc Parcerisas, Joaquim Sala-Sanahuja and Dolors Udina). At the same time, as lecturers and researchers, they have been interested in analysing the contributions of their predecessors and contemporaries.
Also worth highlighting is the work of several researchers who have studied Catalan translations in relation to other languages and historical processes, stressing the similarities and differences, sometimes from a linguistic perspective, sometimes from a sociolinguistic one, others from a more speculative angle. In this sense, the many contributions of Carles Castellanos are of prime importance in the preparation of various dictionaries and research standardization process of different languages. Other researchers have dealt with translation and reception of Sardinian literature (such as Carles Biosca) or Japanese literature, as evidenced by the volume L’haiku en llengua catalana, edited by Jordi Mas, and articles by Mercè Altimir.
Some projects launched in recent years by members of GETCC respond to the will to provide the sector with bibliographical reference tools. In this regard, a notable tool is the volumeUna impossibilitat possible. Trenta anys de traducció als Països Catalans (1975-2005)(2010) and, especially, Diccionari de la traducció catalana(2011), co-directed by Montserrat Bacardí and Pilar Godayol (UVIC) and awarded the Serra d’Or Critics Prize 2012. This dictionary, which included the assessment of the most recognized specialists and involved the participation of eighty professionals, is the first work of its kind in the Catalan field.
Selected Publications
BACARDÍ, Montserrat. La traducció catalana sota el franquisme. Lleida: Punctum, 2012. ISBN 978-84-940694-0-6.
BACARDÍ, Montserrat; GODAYOL, Pilar (eds.). Una impossibilitat possible. Trenta anys de traducció als Països Catalans (1975-2005). Vilanova i la Geltrú: El Cep i la Nansa Edicions, 2010. ISBN 978-84-927450-9-8.
BACARDÍ, Montserrat; GODAYOL, Pilar (dir.). Diccionari de la traducció catalana. Vic: Eumo, 2011. ISBN 978-84-9766-396-0.
BACARDÍ, Montserrat; GODAYOL, Pilar. Les traductores i la tradició. 20 pròlegs del segle XX. Lleida: Punctum, 2013. ISBN 978-84-940694-7-5.
FRANQUESA, Montserrat. La Fundació Bernat Metge, una obra de país (1923-1938). Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2013. ISBN 978-84-988361-2-7.
IRIBARREN i DONADEU, Teresa. Literatura catalana i cinema mut. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2012. ISBN 978-84-988353-5-9.
MAS, Jordi (ed.). L’haiku en llengua catalana. Obrador Edèndum, 2014. ISBN 978-84-939169-9-2.
PARCERISAS, Francesc. Traducció, edició, ideologia. Aspectes sociològics de les traduccions de la Bíblia i de l’Odissea al català. Vic Eumo, 2009.
PARCERISAS, Francesc. Sense mans. Metàfores i papers sobre la traducció. Barcelona: Galàxia Gutenberg, 2013. ISBN 978-84-158631-1-3.
SOPENA, Mireia. Josep Pedreira, un editor en terra de naufragis. Els Llibres de l’Óssa Menor (1949-1963). Barcelona: Proa, 2011. ISBN 978-84-758827-4-1.
VILARDELL, Laura (ed.). Traducció i censura en el franquisme. Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2016. ISBN 978-84-988381-8-3.
