Translation and Medical Humanities: Creative-Critical Exchange with the University of Oslo
Illustration from Jean de Léry, Histoire d'un voyage fait en la terre de Brésil (1578). Wikimedia Commons.
Through a Critical-Creative Prism: Medical Humanities and Translation was conceived as a foundational moment in view of the Translation and Medical Humanities Conference, taking place on 5-6 September 2023 at St Anne's College. Its aim was to provide a platform for preliminary exchange between members of the Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation (OCCT) community and the Bodies in Translation: Science, Knowledge and Sustainability in Cultural Translation research group, based at the University of Oslo.
This exchange consisted of a workshop exploring the creative-critical potential of Translation Studies to address aspects of health and disease, followed by a discussion about the creation of a 'Translation and Medical Humanities' cluster within, and between, the OCCT, SHE [Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education], and IKOS [Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo].
The OCCT delegation-consisting of Prof Matthew Reynolds, Prof Patrick McGuinness, Prof Simon Park, Dr Joseph Hankinson, Dr Tinashe Mushakavanhu, and Ms Georgia Nasseh-joined Bodies in Translation project leaders John Ødemark (Oslo) and Eivind Engebretsen (Oslo), anthropologists Charles Briggs (UC Berkeley) and Clara Briggs (UC Berkeley), as well as a group of PhD candidates from IKOS and SHE. Their contributions explored the interplay between literature, translation, and the body, varying in form, focus, and method.
