Journal articles by Marija Todorova
The Translator, 2018
After the dissolution of the Soviet block and the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe... more After the dissolution of the Soviet block and the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the 1990s saw the emergence of new democratic and market institutions in these countries, most notably of post-communist civil-society organisations (CSOs). This research explores the processes of translation and localisation related to civil society. It draws on experiences related to civil-society development in Macedonia.
The research supports the thesis that the overwhelming public perception of civil society in the countries of Southeast Europe (SEE), as non-homegrown and imposed from abroad, has to do not with their lack of historical precedence in the region but with the fact that its transitional political discourse was one of translation. This paper argues that the dissemination of the basic concepts of civil society is not simply a matter of conceptual and discursive import from the West and adjustment to it by CSO actors in the East.
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Bookbird, 2018
The focus of this article is on a very popular picturebook from former Yugoslavia and which has j... more The focus of this article is on a very popular picturebook from former Yugoslavia and which has just recently been translated and adapted for the stage in English. The classic picturebook Ježeva kućica by Branko Ćopić [translated into English as Hedgehog’s Home], is one of the most enduring children’s books from former Yugoslavia and holds very high prominence in the source culture, as well as rather prominent visibility for the target audience, in the United Kingdom in particular. The analysis in this article will look at how two elements, the iconic, and the performative, alongside the conventional, verbal signs, recreate the image of home in this particular picturebook/musical. The analysis will compare the images created in the original book with the images produced in the translated volume, as well as the English language adaptation of the text for the stage.
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CLINA, 2017
This paper will provide an overview of relevant research in the area of
interpreting in conflict ... more This paper will provide an overview of relevant research in the area of
interpreting in conflict zones with a special focus on working with refugees. The relevant
theoretical framework will be supplemented by my personal experience working as field
interpreter for UNHCR in Macedonia and Kosovo in 1999/2000, and the experiences of
my colleague interpreting for the refugees in Macedonia during the European refugee
crisis at the Macedonia-Greece border in 2015/2016. Tackling the question of the
discrepancy between the prescribed neutrality and real-life experiences of mediating
and advocating for the vulnerable, the article will propose a new mode of working
for interpreters in conflict that I would call «shuttle interpreting», namely independent
interpreting between the communication parties.
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This article explores child-authored autobiographical writing of war trauma compromisingly mediat... more This article explores child-authored autobiographical writing of war trauma compromisingly mediated by adult agents (such as editors, illustrators, and translators), who add their own voices and perspectives in the process of commercial publication. The analysis focuses on Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo (1995), written by Zlata Filipović—a diary of an eleven-year-old child that has been translated, edited, illustrated, and published by adults. There are two important aspects that will be highlighted here regarding the published translation: 1) the translated text is framed by an introduction, footnotes, and captions adding adults’ voices to the child voice of the author; and 2) the translated text is accompanied by illustrations, made, selected, and captioned by adults. These adult interventions have corrupted the child narrator’s voice and perspective of war and the child’s attempt to present her own identity.
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While the basic role of interpreters is to facilitate communication, situations of conflict media... more While the basic role of interpreters is to facilitate communication, situations of conflict mediation and third party intervention very often surpass the usual role and skills needed by interpreters in any other situations. Interpreters in conflict mediation need to be more sensitive to the background situation, emotions, and need to be able to sense perceptions and feelings. They also need to help the mediator create trust, open communication channels, and understand cultural differences and emotions. Drawing on Touval’s (2002) influential argument that biased mediators in international disputes are often the most effective, as well as Kriesberg’s (1991) concept of the quasi-mediator, this paper looks at the role of interpreters in conflict mediation, with a particular focus on the issue of their prescribed or perceived neutrality, based on a survey of interpreters and mediators involved in conflict mediation processes in Kosovo and Macedonia. The concept of neutrality is revisited in terms of conflict mediation theory as well as interpreting theory. Recommendations are provided for training in mediation for interpreters.
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Book Chapters by Marija Todorova
Children’s Literature in Translation Texts and Contexts Edited by Jan Van Coillie and Jack McMartin, 2020
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The Oxford Handbook of Translation and Social Practices Edited by Meng Ji and Sara Laviosa, 2020
This chapter interrogates the translated language used in development aid in terms of its underly... more This chapter interrogates the translated language used in development aid in terms of its underlying Anglocentric conceptual assumptions as well as in terms of its discursive products. It argues that this export of jargon-specific language has impeded the mission of developmental aid, and it provides a case study to support these arguments. It then discusses two steps that can be taken to facilitate the implementation of development aid practice: (1) directly involve various indigenous and grassroots actors in the translation process and (2) enhance sensitivity to the linguistic and cultural context of the host locale. Integrating these suggestions into ongoing policy creation would enable development agencies, international nongovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations, in general, to create more comprehensible policy documents and provide more relevant and useful practices for the local communities.
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Interpreting in Legal and Healthcare Settings: Perspectives on research and training Edited by Eva N.S. Ng and Ineke H.M. Crezee, 2020
his chapter draws on relevant theory in the area of interpreting, with a particular focus on work... more his chapter draws on relevant theory in the area of interpreting, with a particular focus on working with refugees, supplemented by the real-life experiences of field interpreters active during two refugee crises in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. Tackling the question of the discrepancy between the prescribed neutrality of interpreters and their real-life experience, the article will look at the different modes of work for interpreters for refugees in emergency situations, especially in three settings: interpreters as quasi-mediators, shuttle interpreters, and as agents for empowering the vulnerable. The analysis draws on aspects of the intersection between translation theory and mediation theory. In all three modes, it is important to place emphasis on specialised training to perform interpreters’ particular duties.
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In Christophe Declercq and Federico M. Federici (eds.) Intercultural Crisis Communication Translation, Interpreting and Languages in Local Crises, 2019
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In: Polley J., Poon V., Wee LH. (eds) Cultural Conflict in Hong Kong. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2018
Todorova looks at the largely neglected field of English language children’s literature published... more Todorova looks at the largely neglected field of English language children’s literature published in Hong Kong in the last two decades. Selecting books that take the city as their main backdrop, she talks about Hong Kong’s diversity, as represented in these books. Todorova uses methods drawn from imagology research to analyze the localities representing or purporting to represent Hong Kong, the characters and their cultural identity, and the specific elements of Hong Kong culture as identified in both the text and illustrations of the books. Even more than in the books, Hong Kong’s diversity is represented among authors and illustrators of Anglophone children’s books. The chapter ends with an analysis on the importance of representing diversity for the children of Hong Kong.
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Post-Conflict Performance, Film and Visual Arts: Cities of Memory, Apr 2016
Less than a decade after the violent conflict of 2001 which brought the small Balkans country on ... more Less than a decade after the violent conflict of 2001 which brought the small Balkans country on the verge of all-out civil war, the Macedonian Government launched a major public art project entitled “Skopje 2014”, introducing a wide array of singular interventions in the center of the nation’s capital, ranging from neoclassical public buildings, equestrian statues, to public monuments, and fountains, even a Triumphant Arch. With its monuments of Macedonian historic figures, culminating with a 30-meter statue of Alexander the Great, the main City square of Skopje has become a hotspot of symbolic demarcation of identity, as well as a major point of contention between the different communities in Macedonia’s capital, igniting once again animosities and divisions in the post-conflict city.
This paper explores tactics of creative resistance to the official narrative of ethnicity, history and disintegration, as well as the various publics and counter-publics produced in the process, focusing on the work of the very small minority of Macedonian new media artists attempting to resist the transformation of Skopje’s public space into a place of seclusion and spectacular power.
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Ћопићевско моделовање реалности кроз хумор и сатиру/Modellierung der Realität mittels Humor und Satire bei Branko Ćopić., 2014
The first English translation of Ćopić’s Hedgehog’s Home was published in London in 2011, by the ... more The first English translation of Ćopić’s Hedgehog’s Home was published in London in 2011, by the small yet successful publisher „Istros Books“. The translation was done by Susan Curtis. In this study I will look at how the text, illustration and paratext of this work have shifted for the contemporary children readers in the UK. From a patriotic narrative the text of the English translation introduces new environmental narrative. I will also look at the extra-textual data in order to explore how this translation was presented to the end users.
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Transfiction: reserch into the realities of translation fiction, Mar 2014
Memories of war and violent conflict are told and retold in movies, novels and poetry. Narrating ... more Memories of war and violent conflict are told and retold in movies, novels and poetry. Narrating memory is one of the social functions of literature and film and one of the central questions of memory studies. Still, we rarely hear the voice of the interpreters in creating such memories. Condemned by their prescribed ‘invisibility’ and neutrality, their side of the story remains untold. As Stihuljak (1999) puts it “[t]he transmission of history erases the traces of the medium of its transmission and of the history of the medium.”
However, recently a number of linguist’s memoirs have started to appear from different war zones around the world.
One of them, published in Belgrade, is The Girl from Bondsteel (2011) by Tanja Jankovic. The book’s main protagonist, Diana, talks about her life as an interpreter for the US troops deployed to Kosovo after the war. In the following text I will focus on The Girl from Bondsteel as a means of exploring the role of the interpreters in war zones.
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Literary dislocations : 4th International REELC/ENGLS congress, pp. 364-369, Dec 2012
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Annual review, no. 37, Faculty of Philology "Blaze Koneski": Skopje,, Dec 2011
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Book of Proceedings Volume II (Fifth International Interdisciplinary Symposium “Encounter of Cultures”) pp. 871-876, 2010
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Books by Marija Todorova
book of essays on different aspects of translating for children in Macedonia
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A study of contemporary Macedonian literature for children in terms of cultural diversity
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Edited by Marija Todorova
Selected papers from the Third IATIS Regional Workshop on Translator and Interpreter Training, 25... more Selected papers from the Third IATIS Regional Workshop on Translator and Interpreter Training, 25-26 September, Novi Sad, Serbia
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Papers by Marija Todorova
CLINA: Revista Interdisciplinaria de Traducción, Interpretación y Comunicación Intercultural
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Journal articles by Marija Todorova
The research supports the thesis that the overwhelming public perception of civil society in the countries of Southeast Europe (SEE), as non-homegrown and imposed from abroad, has to do not with their lack of historical precedence in the region but with the fact that its transitional political discourse was one of translation. This paper argues that the dissemination of the basic concepts of civil society is not simply a matter of conceptual and discursive import from the West and adjustment to it by CSO actors in the East.
interpreting in conflict zones with a special focus on working with refugees. The relevant
theoretical framework will be supplemented by my personal experience working as field
interpreter for UNHCR in Macedonia and Kosovo in 1999/2000, and the experiences of
my colleague interpreting for the refugees in Macedonia during the European refugee
crisis at the Macedonia-Greece border in 2015/2016. Tackling the question of the
discrepancy between the prescribed neutrality and real-life experiences of mediating
and advocating for the vulnerable, the article will propose a new mode of working
for interpreters in conflict that I would call «shuttle interpreting», namely independent
interpreting between the communication parties.
Book Chapters by Marija Todorova
This paper explores tactics of creative resistance to the official narrative of ethnicity, history and disintegration, as well as the various publics and counter-publics produced in the process, focusing on the work of the very small minority of Macedonian new media artists attempting to resist the transformation of Skopje’s public space into a place of seclusion and spectacular power.
However, recently a number of linguist’s memoirs have started to appear from different war zones around the world.
One of them, published in Belgrade, is The Girl from Bondsteel (2011) by Tanja Jankovic. The book’s main protagonist, Diana, talks about her life as an interpreter for the US troops deployed to Kosovo after the war. In the following text I will focus on The Girl from Bondsteel as a means of exploring the role of the interpreters in war zones.
Books by Marija Todorova
Edited by Marija Todorova
Papers by Marija Todorova
The research supports the thesis that the overwhelming public perception of civil society in the countries of Southeast Europe (SEE), as non-homegrown and imposed from abroad, has to do not with their lack of historical precedence in the region but with the fact that its transitional political discourse was one of translation. This paper argues that the dissemination of the basic concepts of civil society is not simply a matter of conceptual and discursive import from the West and adjustment to it by CSO actors in the East.
interpreting in conflict zones with a special focus on working with refugees. The relevant
theoretical framework will be supplemented by my personal experience working as field
interpreter for UNHCR in Macedonia and Kosovo in 1999/2000, and the experiences of
my colleague interpreting for the refugees in Macedonia during the European refugee
crisis at the Macedonia-Greece border in 2015/2016. Tackling the question of the
discrepancy between the prescribed neutrality and real-life experiences of mediating
and advocating for the vulnerable, the article will propose a new mode of working
for interpreters in conflict that I would call «shuttle interpreting», namely independent
interpreting between the communication parties.
This paper explores tactics of creative resistance to the official narrative of ethnicity, history and disintegration, as well as the various publics and counter-publics produced in the process, focusing on the work of the very small minority of Macedonian new media artists attempting to resist the transformation of Skopje’s public space into a place of seclusion and spectacular power.
However, recently a number of linguist’s memoirs have started to appear from different war zones around the world.
One of them, published in Belgrade, is The Girl from Bondsteel (2011) by Tanja Jankovic. The book’s main protagonist, Diana, talks about her life as an interpreter for the US troops deployed to Kosovo after the war. In the following text I will focus on The Girl from Bondsteel as a means of exploring the role of the interpreters in war zones.