SALIS success - major grant awarded for translation project
19 December 2002

Professor Michael Cronin with associates Dr Eithne O'Connell and Dr Dorothy Kenny in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies has been awarded a major research grant of €190,000 from the Government of Ireland Research Project Grants in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The project, TRASNA, is an online bibliography of Irish Literature in Translation from the earliest times to the present.

Preliminary evidence would suggest that a considerable amount of translation of Irish literature has not been recorded, particularly that published in newspapers, journals or anthologies. TRASNA will be a landmark initiative in the exploration of the influence and presence of Irish literature in the non-Anglophone world, a dimension that has often been neglected in Irish studies, due to the absence of comprehensive and reliable bibliographical information. TRASNA will also greatly assist the further development of translation studies, comparative literature and modern language studies in Ireland not only by providing researchers in these areas with an invaluable research tool but also by offering clear evidence of the centrality of translation to the dissemination of Irish literature in cultures around the world.

As the first ever comprehensive record of Irish literature in translation TRASNA will be the basis for analysis and interpretation of the fortunes of Irish literature in the different languages of the world. The project will be the core element of research activity leading to book and article publication, conference presentation and organisation and web dissemination of research results.

The bibliography will include not just translations published in book form but also translations published in journals and anthologies. The research project will be conducted in two phases over three years. The first phase will cover the translations of Irish literature published after 1900. The second phase will cover translations produced prior to 1900. It will involve both the collection of data from existing library and institutional resources and primary data collection on translations that have hitherto gone unrecorded.

For further details contact:
Michael Cronin 7005587