Focus of the conference
Our life stems from food and is based on food for its sustenance. Googling the word we get billions of results as well as millions of images, all sorts of images, most of them are positive, colourful and joyous, because the image we usually link to food is a positive one. However, less frequent, but equally present are images which link food to hunger or eating disor
ders, problems that characterize our time and are part of our world. Food is definitely part of our life and its role is growing continuously, thanks to the huge number of TV shows, such as Master Chef or Bake off, cookery books, magazines available and to the increasing interest in people’s eating habits, dietary requirements, produce growing and health. Milan EXPO 2015 itself can be taken as an example of how central food is in this time of ours; the interest the Universal Exhibition pays to food politics, food waste, GM food, sustainability is evident from its motto: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. In addition, food is what people like to talk about very often. Language is, consequently, strictly related and tied to food, it is to be used to talk, write, discuss and spread food and cultures. Food is often associated to social events and religious practices, it is so culture bound that adapting and translating food related texts is particularly challenging. Accurate and informed translations are more and more requested and needed. Despite all this, however, the relationship between food, culture and translation remains under-researched. Information about the Conference
By highlighting these issues, and following the first successful international conference on Food and Culture in Translation (FaCT) held in Bologna- Bertinoro in 2014, the second edition of FaCT, to be held in Catania (Sicily), aims to be a truly interdisciplinary conference that brings together scholars engaged in using food-related topics as a case in point for their research. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean area, Catania is the perfect place to host a conference on food and cultures. Here, different cultures have intermingled during the centuries leaving special flavours in the local cooking that is characterized by Arabian spices and local essences, here people from different places have settled to live together peacefully, blending their cultures happily. Catania’s unique character, which is neither fully European nor African or Maghrebian, is eager to welcome researchers and scholars. This interdisciplinary conference acknowledges the importance of investigating food as a key phenomenon across various areas of society, language and culture. This conference sets out to explore the delicate balance and subtle boundaries between food and translation, between food and migration, food and social and religious practices, between food and history, and other issues related to food trans-location, which seem to be one fundamental ingredient of modern multicultural societies. The Conference will address a range of critically important issues and themes relating to Food as a cultural as well as social phenomenon that travels across languages, across cultures and across time and space. Plenary speakers include some of the leading thinkers in these areas, as:
Susan Bassnett: Professor at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick. Don Kulick: Distinguished University Professor at the University of Uppsala. David Katan: Full professor at the Department of Humanities, University of Salento. Gerard Steen: Full professor at the Department of Dutch, University of Amsterdam.
