Posts from August 2018

Asylum, Translation, Voice and Testimony

Written by on Wednesday, posted in Event (No comments yet)

Thursday 6 September 2018, 10.00-18.30
Room D002 Université Paris 8, 2 Rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis

Workshop: Asylum, Translation, Voice and Testimony
The objective of this international workshop is to examine the restrictions imposed upon women’s voices in the context of reporting sexual violence as part of their migration experience in the UK and in France. The workshop will bring together academics from France and the UK, immigration lawyers, and representatives from public facing bodies, women refugees and asylum seekers, and creative writers. It will facilitate a cross sector and interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and experience in relation to taking testimonies and translation. Case studies of women’s testimonies will be examined with regard to language, translation and testimony. These will be examined alongside the current procedure of seeking asylum, in particular the interview process.

Full details can be found here

Tickets can be booked here

This event is part of a project led by Dr Georgina Colby (University of Westminster) in collaboration with Professor Jane Freedman (Université Paris 8) and Debora Singer MBE (Asylum Aid).

Feminist Representations: Sexual Violence Against Women, Asylum and Testimony

Funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, the project aims to explore the contributions the arts and humanities may make to address institutional failures in the area of sexual violence against women and girls, with a specific focus on asylum, translation, voice and testimony. Three interdisciplinary workshops will bring together academics, practitioners, politicians, campaigners and writers. The objective is to open up avenues of expression for women when relaying their testimonies and the impact of sexual violence, and to provide feminist representation that moves beyond the parameters of legal expression. Adopting an interdisciplinary methodology, participants will examine case studies of asylum seekers’ testimonies as a means to reveal the issues of translation women meet when voicing their narratives. The project will shed light on specific issues women seeking asylum who have experienced sexual violence encounter when telling their stories. These findings will inform academics, policy makers, and writers who will address these issues in issues in scholarly and creative works.

For further information, see the project website here or email Georgina Colby.