Translation and Affect: Bodily Encounters, World-Making and the Ethics of Sensation

Despite growing interest in affect across the humanities, its role in translation has received little theoretical attention. Translation is often treated as the transfer of meaning between languages, yet translators describe their work as shaped by sensation and emotional intensity. This project addresses that gap by convening scholars, translators and artists to develop the emerging field of translation and affect studies. A two-day symposium at ASU and a follow-up seminar at the 2027 ACLA conference will generate a shared conceptual framework for the field. “Translation and Affect: Bodily Encounters, World-Making and the Ethics of Sensation” will culminate in a peer-reviewed special issue, advancing the first collective scholarly intervention.