Speaker: Joe Wade, University of Edinburgh
Title: Making Old Norse new: Nynorsk saga translations as a tool for corpus planning
Date: February 3rd, 2021
Time: 4-5 pm
Venue: on Collaborate Learn (through TS Bulletin Board) OR Guest Link: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/5105176a5bda4094a7bb8e589888feb7
Abstract: Following Ivar Aasen’s seminal works Det norske Folkesprogs Grammatik (1848) and Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog (1850), a new Norwegian language was presented to the people of Norway, which coincided with the growth of Romantic Nationalism in Norway. This language would evolve into modern day Nynorsk, an evolution that required a great deal of translational work as my PhD project investigates.
This presentation will cover my recent findings with a focus on four central Nynorsk translations of Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna and what they may tell us about the relationship between translation and the historical development of the Nynorsk language. I will also highlight the discussions and theories concerning translational work into the Nynorsk language presented by Ivar Aasen in the second half of the 19th century.
Bio note: Joseph Wade is a PhD student in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where he also completed an MSc in Translation Studies in 2017. His research focuses on the translation history and language history of Norway in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a particular emphasis on the Nynorsk language. Outside of his studies, Joseph is also a freelance translator working from Norwegian, Swedish and Danish into English.