Sara Van Meerbergen Universitetslektor, docent

Kontakt

Namn och titel: Sara Van MeerbergenUniversitetslektor, docent

Epost: sara.vanmeerbergen@su.se
Telefon: +468163303

ORCID0000-0002-7375-6808 Länk till annan webbplats.

Arbetsplats: Avdelningen för nederländska Länk till annan webbplats.

Besöksadress Rum E 568Universitetsvägen 10 E, plan 5

Postadress Institutionen för slaviska och baltiska språk, finska, nederländska och tyska106 91 Stockholm

Forskargrupper

Om mig

Keywords: nederländska, Nederländerna, Belgien, barn- och ungdomslitteratur, bilderböcker, multimodal diskursanalys, sociosemiotik, översättning, översättningsvetenskap, översättningssociologi, nyöversättning 

Jag är docent i nederländska och arbetar som studierektor och universitetslektor i nederländska vid Stockholms universitet. Jag har jobbat på Nederländska avdelningen sedan 2005. År 2010 disputerade jag på en avhandling som heter "Nederländska bilderböcker blir svenska. En multimodal översättningsanalys" där jag undersökte flamländska och nederländska bilderböcker i svensk översättning. Mellan 2011 och 2015 var jag Ahlström- och Terserusstipendiat vid avdelningen och arbetade med postdoc-projektet "Lek, parodi, intertextualitet och interaktion. Postmoderna flamländska bilderböcker som semiotiska lekrum". År 2015 och 2016 arbetade jag både som lektor i översättning (Inst. för svenska och flerspråkighet, SU) och i nederländska.

Sedan 2017 arbetar jag heltid som universitetslektor i nederländska med inriktning på översättning och översättningsvetenskap. I min forskning intresserar jag mig för hur barn representeras och gestaltas ideologiskt i olika typer av (översatta) multimodala texter. Mina forskningsintressen inkluderar multimodala studier, multimodal diskursanalys, visuell kommunikation, systemisk funktionell lingvistik, semiotiska landskap, spatial diskursanalys, (deskriptiv) översättningsvetenskap, interkulturell kommunikation, lokalisering samt studier om barn- och ungdomslitteratur. 


Transnational mediation and circulation of Dutch language literature on Instagram: literary branding, self-mediation and bookstagram

Ongoing 2025-2026

In this project I analyse how Dutch language authorships circulate on Instagram and which affordances the platform offers for literary actors such as authors, publishers and literary influencers to (self-)mediate their work in transnational ways.

 

Born translated? Transnational circulation of metamodern Millennials through mediating networks and social media.

Publication expected in 2026

In this project I work together with Dr. Alexa Stoicescu (Bucharest university) to study the transnational circulation of Dutch languge metamodern authors such as Lukas Rijneveld, Lize Spit, Hanna Bervoets, Simone Atangana Bekono and Eva Meijers. Remarkable for this young genereation of authors is that they circulated transnationally relatively fast after their debut, both to central and more peripheral literary languages, resembling the concept of 'born translated' put forward by Walkowitz (2015). With a starting point in translation sociology, we study the mediating networks formed by institutionas and agents that are of interest for the translation and circulation of the authors in case. We pay specific focus to the Swedish and the Rumanian translation and reception context. Furthernore we examine the mediating role of social media, looking at literary influencers and the self-mediation of the authors through social media.

 

Dutch Literature in Translation (DLIT) and IConTxt

2021 - 2026, ongoing
International collaboration with researchers and students in Dutch Studies from 12 universities. Project coordinators: Herbert Van Uffelen (University of Vienna) and Małgorzata Dowlaszewicz (University of Wroclaw). With support from Nederlandse Taalunie.
In this project we collaborate with colleagues and students in Dutch Studies to maintain and further develop The Digital Library and Bibliography of Dutch Literature in Translation (DLBT).

 

Binnenlandse vogels, buitenlandse nesten: Uitgevers van vertaalde Nederlandstalige literatuur in relatie tot het Nederlandse en Vlaamse letterenbeleid.

May 2020 - Oktober 2022; publication expected in 2026.
International collaboration with researchers in Dutch Studies. Project coordinators: Jack McMartin (Leuven University) and Paola Gentile (University of Trieste). With support from Nederlandse Taalunie.
In this international project we study transnational flows of Dutch Language authors in translation. Together with Annika Johansson (SU) I study the cultural transfer process (incl. reception and translation) for the Flemish author Bart Moeyaert in Sweden. Specific focus is on the influence of literary institutions such as the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (Alma), cultural mediators such as the Flemish Literature Fund, but also other actors in the cultural network established in and through the transnational transfer process.
Keywords: reception studies, translation studies, translation sociology, transnational flows, Bart Moeyaert, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 

 

Semiotics of hair. Meanings of otherness, silence and social exclusion but also motherhood and empowerment in Kitty Crowther’s picture book "Mère Méduse".

In this project, I analyze how hair is used as a semiotic resource to express meanings of otherness, silence and social exclusion, but also motherhood and empowerment, in the picture book “Mère Méduse” (2014) by Belgian picture book artist Kitty Crowther.
Keywords: multimodality, social semiotics, picture books, meanings of hair

 

Global media for children? A multimodal analysis of dubbed children's animation.

Avslutat 2019-2022
Collaboration with: Annika Johansson (SU) and Reglindis De Ridder (SU)
In this project we aim to analyse the Swedish and Dutch dubbings of the animated Disney series PJ Masks from a multimodal perspective with regards to depiction of child characters in terms of gender and diversity. We combine theoretical and methodological perspectives from AVT, descriptive translations studies, social semiotics and multimodal discourse analysis with insights from corpus linguistics. 
In september 2019 we presented the first results for this project at the 9th Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies Living Translation - People, Processes, Products at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Keywords: animated series, Disney, globalization, dubbing, multimodality, social semiotics, descriptive translation studies, corpus analysis, PJ Masks

 

Pettson och Findus go glocal.

Avslutat 2017-2019
Recontextualization of images and multimodal analysis of simultaneous action in Dutch and French translations. Samarbetsprojekt med Charlotte Lindgren, Högskolan Dalarna.
Keywords: multimodality, social semiotics, translation studies, picture books

 

Multimodala texter och lärande i högre utbildning

Avslutat 2016-2018
Samarbetsprojekt mellan Stockholms universitet/ Örebro universitet och Kapstadens universitet. Finansiärer: National Research Foundation (Sydafrika) och STINT (Sverige). Projektledare i Sverige: Anders Björkvall vid Örebro universitet.

 

Anslagstavlan

Avslutat 2016-2017
Medborgarforskningsprojekt om lokala anslagstavlor som initierades inom ramen för Forskarfredag 2016. Samarbetsprojekt mellan forskare vid Stockholms universitet, Örebro universitet och Göteborgs universitet. Initierades av Vetenskap och Allmänhet inom ramen för Horizon 2020.

 


  • Global or glocal heroes in PJs? A multimodal analysis of female superhero and villain depiction in dubbed children’s animation

    Artikel
    2025. Sara Van Meerbergen, Reglindis De Ridder.
    Perspectives

    The impact of globalization on children’s media is often hotly debated. While proponents welcome global media to broaden children’s horizons, opponents warn of the potentially negative effects of an increasingly ‘Disneyfied’ culture. More recently, several language and media scholars have noticed a growing counter-movement of cherishing ‘the local’, but also ‘the glocalization’ of global media. This relationship between the global and the local is at the core of our dubbing analysis. With a methodology informed by Social Semiotics and (Audiovisual) Translation Studies, the Swedish and Dutch dubbed versions of the internationally distributed Disney series PJ Masks are analysed. In our comparative analysis of the Swedish and Dutch dubbing, we use multimodal transcription grids to study how the series’ female superhero and villain are portrayed multimodally through spoken language, visuals, sound and (to some extent) voice, focusing on diversity, gender and agency. Our findings show that the Dutch and Swedish versions can be considered ‘glocal’ artefacts resulting from a global product that is imported and localized in both language areas. The analysis reveals interesting (non-)shifts in the depiction of female superhero and villain characters, but also in the semiotic interplay between the different modes in the text.

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  • Retranslations of children's literature

    Kapitel
    2025. Valérie Alfvén, Sara Van Meerbergen.
    The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Young Audiences 159-171

    Retranslation is important for the dissemination of canonical works and for building (inter)national literary identity. This chapter demonstrates the complexity of defining retranslation in the context of children’s literature. With reference to earlier research on retranslation, it proposes a broader definition by insisting on the multimodal essence of children’s literature and the impossibility of dissociating the verbal from the visual. The chapter then critically engages with the retranslation hypothesis, a central yet contested hypothesis within research on (re)translation, and its relevance in relation to children’s literature. Further it offers a comprehensive survey of contemporary research endeavours within the field, examining the multifarious factors that underpin the retranslation process in children’s literature. These factors encompass, but are not limited to, the effects of ageing, ideological considerations, societal and cultural norms, as well as economic imperatives. Additionally, current research also shows the influence exerted by external factors such as the personal histories of authors and illustrators, literary awards, cinematic adaptations, and the significance of multimodality. Finally, it explores recent studies on the reception of retranslated children’s literature and suggests avenues for future research, including the application of concepts such as remediation and transcreation.

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  • Feeling safe while being surveilled

    Artikel
    2023. Anders Björkvall, Sara Van Meerbergen, Gustav Westberg.
    Social Semiotics 209-231

    Departing from Lefebvre’s work on the social production of space, this paper explores the intersection between perceived and lived space from the perspective of spatial discourse analysis. Empirically, the paper studies how the spatiality of international airports performs affective discursive work and establishes prerequisites for air travelers’ feelings of being “in control” and “excited” vs. feelings of being “controlled” and “surveilled”. The concept of binding is applied in order to understand how affect is spatially afforded at Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Vienna International Airport. The analysis reveals that alternations between bound and unbound spaces construe the airports as distinctly ideological sites with different affective potentials. Accordingly, this article adds to the understanding of how airport atmospheres are construed by means of spatial resources such as the height, depth, and shape of walls and ceilings and by the transparency and opaqueness of the built material, as well as by more dynamic elements such as carpets, colors, signage, and retractable belt barriers.

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DLIT: Nederländsk litteratur i översättning

Ett projekt i samarbete med 12 universitet där översatt nederländskspråkig litteratur från svenska, tyska, engelska, italienska, franska, tjeckiska, serbiska, slovakiska, rumänska och ungerska samlas i databasen The Digital Library and Bibliography of Dutch Literature in Translation (DLBT).

Kontakt

Namn och titel: Sara Van MeerbergenUniversitetslektor, docent

Epost: sara.vanmeerbergen@su.se
Telefon: +468163303

ORCID0000-0002-7375-6808 Länk till annan webbplats.

Arbetsplats: Avdelningen för nederländska Länk till annan webbplats.

Besöksadress Rum E 568Universitetsvägen 10 E, plan 5

Postadress Institutionen för slaviska och baltiska språk, finska, nederländska och tyska106 91 Stockholm

Forskargrupper

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