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Gerald Porter - Senior Lecturer

FL dissertation: Variability in Four Traditional Ballads (1988) University of Umeå PhD dissertation: The English Occupational Song (1992) University of Umeå "As the list of publications which are in the pipeline suggests, my current research is largely into the semiotics of popular culture. I am particularly concerned with questions of nationalism and identity. I am also working on a full-length study of fragmentation in cultural discourse. As its raw material will be drawn from the field of traditional song, it will not be as postmodern as it sounds." Recent articles: 'Eaten with merriment and sport.' Cannibalism and the Colonial Subject The Other Child Ballads: Narrative Songs by English Child Labourers Constructing The 'Green Ballad' Meaning and the Lacuna in Oral Narrative Occupation as Metaphor 1) Literary Studies a)You wouldn't call me nigger if I wasn't half dead. Challenging racial hierarchies in Joseph Conrad. In: David Bell (Ed.) Proceedings of the Conrad Seminar, Östersund. b)Singing as Transgression in Mary Ann EvansIn: Monica Loeb and Gerald Porter (Eds.) Off LImits, Out of Bounds. 2) Society and Culture a)"Who talks of my nation?" Constructing "Englishness" through Negative Racial StereotypesIn: Luisa del Giudice and Gerald Porter (Eds.) Imagined States: the Geography of Fantasy (University of California Press). b)Representation and Ideology in English BroadsidesIn: D Laurent (Ed.) Proceedings of Ballad Commission meeting, Mellac, Brittany. c)The World's Ill-Divided: The Left and Progressive SongIn: Andy Croft (Ed.) A Weapon in the Struggle (London: Pluto Press, 1998), 171-91. d)The Ideology of Misrepresentation: Scots in English BroadsidesIn: Irma Taavitsainen (Ed.) Writing in Non-Standard English. 3) Language Studies a)Doing Time: Language as Rhythm.Erikoiskielet ja Käännösteoria (LSP and Theory of Translation.). Proceedings of VAKKI Symposium XVIII. Vaasa: Vaasan yliopisto.

 

Sirkku Aaltonen - Professor, Head of Department

FL dissertation: Gallous Stories: Two Transplants into Finnish of The Playboy of the Western World (1993) University of Joensuu PhD dissertation: Acculturation of the Other. Irish Milieux in Finnish Drama Translation (1996) University of Joensuu "My primary interest in Translation Studies is into theatre translation, and the way it can be understood and analysed with models from cultural studies and studies of literary translation." Monographs: Käännetyt illuusiot. (1998) Tampere: Tampere University Press. Time-sharing on Stage. Drama Translation in Theatre and Society.Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Research Papers at Congresses: Theatre translation and practices of everyday life. The Second International Congress of European Society for Translation Studies (EST), Granada, Spain, 23-26 September 1998. Time-sharing on Stage: Drama translation in theatre and society. (1998) Conference De Letter en de Geest. The Spirit and the Letter, Antwerpen, UIA, 28-29 May 1998. Referred articles: Time-Sharing of Theatre Texts In Across Languages and Cultures. Volume 1, issue 1. Akadémia Publishers, Budapest. pp. 12. Näytelmäkirjallisuuden kääntäminen Suomessa In Paloposki, Outi and Henna Makkonen-Craig (eds), Käännöskirjallisuus ja sen kritiikki. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, pp. 132-152. Have you heard the one about the Irishman..?In Vaasan yliopiston käännösteorian ja ammattikielen tutkijaryhmän julkaisut. N:o 26. Vaasan yliopisto, Vaasa. pp. 38-46. Reviews: The Translation Sudies Reader Lawrence Venuti (ed.) 1999. London and New york: Routledge, in Indian Linguistics, Autumn 2000. Recent articles: Mapping the other. The case of Asian theatre in Finland Research into Theatre Translation. The Challenge of an Iceberg Itämaisia mattoja ja uteliaita kääntäjiä: teatterikääntäminen taitolajina Heroines of the Emerald Isle: Irish Women in the Finnish Theatre Näytelmien suomentaminen on taitolaji Have you heard the one about the Irishman...? The Taming of the Other in Theatre Translation TIME is, TIME was, TIME's past. Time in Translation Studies Targeting in Drama Translation: Laura Ruohonen's Plays in English Translation Vihreän saaren sankarit suomalaisella näyttämöllä eli Suomalaisen teatterin tarinat irlantilaisista ja irlantilaisuudesta List of Publications

 

William Goymer - Lecturer

PhD dissertation (in prospect): William S. Burroughs: The Dissenting Voice "Burroughs, 1914-1997, occupies a controversial position in contemporary literature and culture, a controversy equalled by his idiosyncratic lifestyle. In a post Bomb society, Burroughs's characters and themes are sometimes glibly condemned as 'obscene' or 'pornographic', yet they mirror the obscenity of a world controlled by the fear of annihilation. It is Burroughs's focus on Mind Control, whether via narcotics or the propaganda of convention that endows him with a dissenting yet highly cogent, compassionate voice. His interest in and influence of landmark English and European literature contrasts with his famed narrative subversion. The influence of Rabelais and Rimbaud together with certain Russian writers is remarkable."

 

Deborah Ruuskanen - Lecturer

FL dissertation: Pragmatic Factors and Context in Translation(in progress) "All translations are done in a context, whether or not the translator is aware of creating the context in which the translation is done. This thesis is theoretically based in cognitive linguistics, and in relevance theory as put forward by Sperber and Wilson. The insights of Jauss and Iser regarding the interpretation of literature have also been applied to the translation situation. Professional translators have been interviewed to determine a model for the creation of context in the translation situation, and the model has been used both to interpret and study translations as a product, and to aid students in becoming aware of the importance of context when translating. Articles include: The State of the Art of Medical Translation in Finland. Seminario Internacional de Traduccion e Interpretacion en el Ambito Biosanitario, International Conference on Medical Translation. 30 March - 2 April 1998, University of Malaga, Spain. Published in the second edition of the Proceedings of this Conference. The Problem of Gender in Translation. The Fifth BLWG (Berkeley Women and Language Group) Conference: Gender and Language. 23-27 April, Berkeley: California (USA). To be published in the Proceedings of Conference (in print). Provision of Assistance in Monitoring the Application of EU Directives in the Foodstuffs Sector in FINLAND.Report to DGIII in Brussels on the Finnish Legislation currently in force which implements 84 Directives in the Foodstuffs Sector. Legal Text Analysis in English, French and Finnish.

 

John Shepherd - Lecturer

FL dissertation: Hidden Curriculum: a study of student and teacher perception of the content of the English language curriculum in Finnish and Swedish-speaking upper secondary schools "I am researching for a postgraduate licentiate degree and the aim of my study is to analyse student and teacher perception of and attitude towards the English language (EL) curriculum in Finnish upper secondary schools, focusing in particular on the role of explicit form-focused instruction and learning. Observation of classroom content and procedures in several schools provides another strand to the research. The basis in the literature is in Foreign Language motivation and the teaching and learning of grammar. The research methodology involves a questionnaire/statement profile for students, structured interviews with EL teachers and an observation instrument for capturing the contents of EL lessons, effecting a multi-method research approach."

 

Marjatta Lehtinen

FL dissertation: Observations on subjectivization in English and Finnish.(1984) University of Jyväskylä "I am working on my PhD thesis, with the title "English transitive clauses expressing locativity and their Finnish equivalents. A contrastive study". In it I compare English and Finnish grammatical subjects in written discourse, within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. Primarily, the thesis is a semantic study of subjectivization and perspective choice in certain constructions expressing locativity in abstract domain. In principle, some subject choices may be cognitively determined, while some others are language-specific, conventionalized in that language - we are all familiar with the change of perspective when translating from Finnish into English or vice versa. - I am also interested in subject in spoken discourse in the context of feminist radical therapy setting, in particular, in such parameters of subjectivity as directness of speech and expressing affect, which characterize the discourse of FRT. FRT resembles the setting of psychoanalysis in that the speaking subject is split into two: the subject of the actual utterance (sujet d'enonce) and the subject of the process of speaking (sujet d'enounciation): this is clearly seen in the discursive act of regression, which involves a dialogue between the self and the unconscious." Article forthcoming: How verbs denote: show and TIME.

 

Elina Syri - Assistant

FL dissertation: Studies in Intertextuality in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved', 'Jazz' and 'Paradise'.(2004) University of Vaasa " My hypothesis is that psychoanalytic analysis of Morrison's trilogy Beloved, Jazz and Paradise reveals trauma narratives of a troubled ego and highlights processes of both mourning and healing in response to disturbances caused by the cultural trauma of slavery. Another prominent factor in the formation of trauma is the conflict between remembering and forgetting and therefore a problematic relationship toward time. Gender roles and parenthood, especially motherhood, are also central issues in the trilogy. Although the parts of Morrison^Òs trilogy are only loosely connected, there are some linking themes to be found in all the three novels: slavery and its after-effects have a strong influence, while the traumatizing feelings of not belonging and not knowing one^Òs roots are constantly present. The themes of motherhood and community are important to the process of healing from trauma, and an equally continuous theme in the trilogy is the otherness of African Americans in American society. " Introduction