This course is a part of HF's PhD week.
The use of concepts from a different time, culture or language in academic writing, and the changing customs of what is considered good and bad form raises a lot of ethical dilemmas for scholars. Whether one deals with academic jargon that was once au courant, words used by informants or historical sources and thus in need of correct rendition in our papers, or the application of technical concepts that post-date the period in question, and thus seem anachronistic if used, the scholar can be faced with ethical dilemmas related to interpretation and translation.
The first one is the interpretation of historical documents that use concepts that the scholar is either uncomfortable with using or where they expect negative reactions from an audience on their appearance in an academic text. Whatever one feels about these shifting norms and the politics behind them, there is a practical ethical dilemma in how to render historical texts in a present-day academic context.
Second, how to speak and write about phenomena that today have deeply politicised concepts that carry a different semantic valour than they did. Using concepts like “slavery” to describe anyone from Roman galley slaves, via Janissaries and Mamluks to the Transatlantic chattel slave trade comes with a particular baggage that may not necessarily sit well with every audience. On the other hand, deciding not to describe it all by the concept of slavery may feel like a moral cop out on the part of the scholar.
Third, how to write about a concept before it was coined? What ethical considerations must a scholar make when using a concept that for example carry a specific legal meaning in the present-day on historically contingent phenomena? What considerations must we make and how do we, as scholars, navigate such an ethical landscape?
Fourth; how do we translate from other languages as a matter of method, and what ethical dilemmas are we faced with when doing so? Moving meaning into a new context transforms it and with that comes new implications (often illuminating), but that meaning is often not intended by the original author. Are we “unveiling” their inherent and pre-existing biases, or are those produced in the act of translation? What are the ethical dilemmas we are faced with when engaging in this?
In order to reflect on these issues, the seminar will draw upon the literature on interlingual relations, on concept formation and the history of the concept of genocide (and its use in historical research).
This is a 1 ECTS course.
Language
The course language is English.
Registration
The course is open to PhD fellows, completion grant holders, and post-doctoral fellows at the Faculty of Humanities, other UiO faculties and external PhD fellows.
Registration opens 20 September at 12 noon and closes 1 November at 12 noon. Priority will be given to PhDs from the Faculty of Humanities, then PhDs from other Faculties at UiO, and lastly other applicants.
From 2 November, you may register for the course if there are still seats available.
Course convenors
Contact person: Einar Wigen, einar.wigen@ikos.uio.no
IKOS, responsible department
Prerequisites
All participants are required to write a 1,000 word reflection paper where they relate their project to one or more of the curriculum contributions. The reflection papers will be presented and discussed during the workshop. Please send your reflection paper to einar.wigen@ikos.uio.no no later than 17 November.
Program
The program is divided into two major parts. Before lunch, there will be lecture by Professor Einar Wigen, with ample room for discussion. The time slots after lunch are set aside for group work based on the reflection papers.
Monday 9-16
09:00-10:30 Introduction. Lecture by Professor Einar Wigen
10:30-10:45 15 minutes break
10:45-12:00 Lecture continue
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:00 Group work: Discussion of reflection papers
14:00-14:15 Break
14:15-15:00 Group work: Discussion of reflection papers
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-16:00 Plenary discussion of papers
Course curriculum
- Umberto Eco, Interpretation and Overinterpretation, pp.1-108
- Yuri Lotman, Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture, pp. 1-122
- Christopher B. Krebs (2011), A Most Dangerous Book: Tacitus's Germania from the Roman Empire to the Third Reich
- Einar Wigen and Mauro J. Caraccioli (2021), Interlingual Relations,
Global Politics in a Polyglot World