Great translation, George Steiner said, ‘moves by touch’; translators, he continues, ‘can even smell words’. In this talk, we will reflect upon the close yet mysterious relation between translation and disability. Should sign languages used by the deaf communities across the world be considered as foreign tongues? And, if this is the case, what meanings does the word ‘foreign’ bear for disability studies and for society at large?

Emma Bond is Reader in Italian and Comparative Literature at the University of St Andrews. Claudia Durastanti is the author of La Straniera (La Nave di Teseo 2019) and the Italian translator of Ocean Vuong’s prize-winning novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin 2019). Elizabeth Harris is a literary translator and Professor of Creative Writing. She is currently translating La Straniera into English.

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