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Elisabeth BladhSenior lecturer, Deputy director

About me

I am a Senior lecturer in Translation studies with specialisation in translation at TÖI and a Reader in French (at the University of Gothenburg). I hold a PhD from 2003 at Stockholms universitet with a dissertation where I comparend translation strategies in relation to target group and pupose of contemporary French Bible translations. Before joining TÖI I have worked as a Lecturer in French at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in Barbados (2004-2009) and at the University of Gothenburg (2009-2019). 2008-2009 I was post doc at the Department for French, Italian and Classical Languages at Stockholm University. 

In Gothenburg I was the coordinator för the Translation Progam (2016-2019) och at TÖI I am Director of studies for the section of translation since fall 2020. Since January 2023 I am also deputy director of TÖI.

Teaching

At TÖI I have taught Communication in a multicultural perspective, Translation in theory and practice I and II, Translation theory I and Language for special purposes and terminology. Before joining TÖI I taught courses in French linguistics, French proficency at all levels, Translation theory and Translation (French to Swedish, French to English/English to French). 

At the University of Gothenburg I developed, in collaboration with Linnéa Koré and Ugo Ruiz, the podcast "Lär dig franska: språk, kultur, vett och etikett" (Learn French: language, culture, dos and don'ts) as part of the Beginners' course in French. The podcast is available online and can be reached here.

Research

Research interests

  • Literary translation, especially Francophone literature in Swedish translation
  • Bible translation
  • Contrastive linguistics, especially aspect
  • Pedagogical work on second language acquisition (French in Sweden)

Major grants

  • 2012–2015 ”Focusing the periphery –Francophone literature in Swedish translation during the 20th century”. The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities/The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. 
  • 2008–2009 ”Francophone Caribbean Literature in Swedish translation". Anna Ahlström and Ellen Terserus Foundation, Stockholm University.

PhD Supervision

Co-supervisor 

  • Maria Forsman. Department of languages and literatures. University of Gothenburg.

Commissions of trust

  • 2009-2020 Section editor for the section of French linguistics, journal Moderna Språk
  • 2011- Member of the scientific committee, journal Atelier de traduction
  • 2017- Editorial board member, journal Revue nordique des études francophones
  • 2017. Member and second opponent of the examination committee for Siri Fürst Skogmo, Marked language in literary translation. Mapping challenges and solutions in five English novels and their Norwegian translations. (PhD thesis) Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo.

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Romanistiken i Sverige. Tradition och förnyelse

    2020. Andreas Romeborn, Elisabeth Bladh.

    Book (ed)

    De romanska språken är de indoeuropeiska språk som utvecklats från latinet. Beteckningen ”romanska språk” syftar även på den akademiska disciplin i vilken de romanska språken och litteraturen från de romanska språkområdena studeras. Denna disciplin, också kallad ”romanistik”, har en lång tradition i Sverige. Den akademiska utbildningen och forskningen i romanska språk i Sverige bildar ämnet för denna antologi, vars bidrag är skrivna av 22 olika forskare verksamma inom fältet. I antologin undersöks den svenska romanistikens historiska utveckling samt bärande tendenser i dagens utbildning och forskning. Frågan om vad som idag kännetecknar romanska språk som akademisk disciplin i Sverige diskuteras grundligt i flera av bidragen. Boken anlägger ett metadisciplinärt perspektiv i den meningen att det är själva disciplinen romanska språk – eller någon aspekt av denna – som utgör studieobjektet. Den vänder sig till alla med intresse för universitets- och lärdomshistoria och för de akademiska språkämnenas utveckling och ställning i ett svenskt högskolesammanhang. Flera av bidragen är därutöver av relevans för läsare med intresse för språkdidaktiska spörsmål och för pedagogisk forskning rörande språkundervisning inom högre utbildning. Förhoppningen är att de reflexioner och undersökningar som samlas i denna antologi ska kunna tjäna som en utgångspunkt för romanistikens utveckling i Sverige i framtiden.  

    Read more about Romanistiken i Sverige. Tradition och förnyelse

  • Entre écriture translingue et autotraduction – Greta Knutson (1899–1983) et sa recherche d’un public en langues française et allemande

    2022. Elisabeth Bladh. Revue nordique des études francophones 5 (1), 109-123

    Article

    This paper examines the use of self-translation by Greta Knutson (1899–1983), aSwedish-born painter, art critic and writer, who lived most of her life in France. AlthoughKnutson wrote mainly in French, towards the end of her life she started self-translatingher texts into German. She also occasionally self-translated in the opposite direction.Three perspectives were applied to her texts, which were published in journals and/orin two monographs in German (Bestien, 1980, 1982) and French (Lunaires, 1985). First,an attempt was made to establish a chronology of her self-translated writings; second,the visibility of the “self-translation pact” (Ferraro 2016) was examined according totarget culture and genre; and third, the degree of rewriting was studied by means of a three-level categorization. Ultimately, it was not possible to establish a reliablechronology of her self-translated texts, mainly due to the lack of dated texts. The “selftranslation pact” was clearly signaled in the German monograph only. Accordingly, itwas suggested that Knutson was launched, in 1980, as a writer closely connected tothe German target culture, in 1982, as a foreign author of French-Swedish origin, and in1985, as a French author. The degree of rewriting varied, but few texts showed a highrate of rewriting compared to the version(s) in the other language. It was also noted thatself-translation rarely influenced revisions in French texts which were published twice.The paper includes a list with Knutson’s literary publications in French and German, aswell as an inventory of her German texts and, when relevant, their counterparts in French.

    Read more about Entre écriture translingue et autotraduction – Greta Knutson (1899–1983) et sa recherche d’un public en langues française et allemande

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