Lecturer in Translation (Arabic)

Neil’s research focuses on the uses and nature of multilingual narrative in digitally mediated contexts, with a particular focus on the Arab world. His forthcoming book Fragmented Narrative: Telling and Interpreting Stories in the Twitter age how the fragmented nature of social media communication impacts the production and reception of narrative.

 

I currently have two writing projects on the go. The first looks at how translation can let the world around us come into view in new ways by disrupting established ways of thinking, acting and feeling, especially when it comes to translated narrative. The second is a more broadly focused piece to be published as a chapter in a forthcoming edited collection titled Debates in Translation Studies which will explore key areas for research on the relationship between translation and the digital over the next few years.

Both follow on and develop lines of thought I’ve been developing over the last few years. The first is trying to see how far the philosophical underpinnings of my book Fragmented Narrative can take us when applied specifically to questions of translation. The second arises from a longstanding interest in technology and digital culture and the many ways in which they encourage us to rethink the way we practice and research translation.

Covid-19 has led me to think a lot about issues of public health, and particularly the role of translation and social media in the movement of information and narratives about vaccines across cultural and linguistic boundaries. I have a couple of different projects in the works to explore this from different angles with colleagues from the University of Leeds, Qatar University, Oslo University and Agder University so I look forward to seeing how they develop over the next couple of years.