Saving the unsavable? Power asymmetries and the activist potential of self-translation for sustaining minorised languages and cultures

In the European context, about 43% of living languages are endangered.

While the European Union has 24 official languages, all of which are recognised as national languages of its member states, there are over 60 regional and minority languages with no official status.

Although self-translation has been discussed as a site of power struggle and an expression of multilingual identities, its relevance to language vitality and sustainability has not been explored.

This project (ATLAS) aims to investigate the activist potential of self-translation in empowering minorised languages and contributing to their sustainable development in line with the Global Goals.

It will be the first project to investigate self-translation and power in relation to activism and sustainability, relying on public engagement and integrating online contexts.

The research objectives are: 1) to examine the language attitudes of self-translators and their reasons for self-translating, 2) to investigate publishing practices concerning publication layouts and paratext (online and in print) and publishers’ attitudes to self-translation and languages, 3) to determine language use and attitudes to self-translation among broader society.

I will use Sicilian self-translation as a case study due to its minorised status and vulnerable position and will combine community’s participation with a mixed-methods approach (official statistics/policies, survey, interviews, school workshops, exhibition, questionnaires, paratextual analysis).

I will be trained by the host and partner institution in problematising power asymmetries and applying sociolinguistic approaches. A secondment in Sicily will allow me to collect data and engage with the community.

ATLAS will stress the European linguistic and cultural heritage, with self-translation as another tool for promoting equality and multilingual practices and policies. It will also contribute to my development as an independent and collaborative researcher.