International Conference "A new Babel: Multilingualism, Translingualism and Translation in Contemporary Literature" (Verona, 26-28th May 2025)

Plurilingualism and translingualism are increasingly prominent phenomena in contemporary literature, particularly among authors who do not write in their first language but in the majority language of the country to which they have emigrated - whether out of necessity or by personal choice - or in which they live while feeling, to varying degrees, in exile. While it is clear that these phenomena cannot be reduced to a linguistic or literary one, it is necessary to move beyond the postcolonial paradigm as it has circulated in certain strands of literary criticism, with its emphatic - both programmatic and metaphorical - association with plurilingualism and its tendency to idealize self-translation and hybridity. Such an approach risks overlooking the issues of cultural and linguistic alienation that may accompany self-translation.

Far from representing a simple act of freely crossing borders, plurilingual literature allows us to reflect on processes and relations of power between dominant and marginalized languages, also exploring the roles played by factors such as linguistic culture and the expectations or mindsets of intended readers, the structure of public opinion, and the characteristics of the literary market. The conference aims to investigate these phenomena by focusing on literary production (while not neglecting cross-genre approaches) from the early 2000s onward.

Link to the event: https://www.dlls.univr.it/?ent=iniziativa&convegno=1&id=13675