'Translational Relationships' with Paul Russell Garrett & Annie Rutherford

This BCLT research seminar took place online on Wednesday 21 May 2025. In this seminar, Paul Russell Garrett and Annie Rutherford discuss the insights, challenges and questions that emerged from their research projects as BCLT translators-in-residence, as well as exploring the intersections between their two projects. Paul investigates how collaborative approaches common in the theatre world can not only be applied to theatrical dialogue but also used to enrich translation across other literary genres. Inspired by his practice-based research and hands-on experiences, Paul discusses how exercises and techniques common in the rehearsal room could help literary translators better embody their texts. Annie explores practical and ethical translation questions through the lens of the ethics of care. A feminist intervention into ethics, the ethics of care holds up care as a possible alternative to traditional understandings of justice. An ethics of care approach to translation removes the hierarchy between author and translator, creating instead a relational network between equal participants, and raises a number of questions: do we owe more to a live author than a dead one? And is it even possible to translate with care if we attempt to efface our own roles as translators?