Staff in the Department of Hispanic Studies

Go to the MLAC staff pages.

Dr Penelope Johnson, BA Santiago de Compostela; MA London

Contact Dr Penelope Johnson (email at penelope.johnson@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

I graduated in English Philology at the University of Santiago de Compostela. I then completed a PGCE in Modern Languages at King’s College London, followed by and an MA in Translation at Middlessex University in London. Currently, I am in the writing up stage of a PhD in Translation at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The title of my thesis is Translation and the Image of the Other: Pablo Neruda’s Canto General in the US. I base my research project on the idea held that translation has the power to construct images and representations of ‘other’ cultures. The overall aim of my thesis is to examine the English translations of Canto general written by the communist Chilean poet Pablo Neruda published in the US between 1946 and 2004 and to explore the images of Latin America, Canto general and Neruda that can be constructed from these translations. This involves looking at the text selection process, the translation techniques used at the level of the individual poems and the paratext (cover, illustrations, footnotes, etc.). The overall theoretical framework is that of postcolonial theory in translation studies, which is particularly relevant when the culture of origin (Chile and Latin America) and the receiving culture (the US) have an asymmetrical power relation.

Research Interests

• Anthologies and representation (with a link both to gender and postcolonial issues)
• Latin American Subaltern Studies
• The translation of Children's literature (particularly its role in cannon strengthening and formation)
• Translation and cultural identity
• Translation and ideologies of representation (particularly when power differentials exist between the cultures involved)
• Translation and minority languages (particularly the use of translation to strengthen the literary canon

Selected Publications

Books: reviews

• 2005 'The Essential Neruda', Polissema, Revista de Letras do ISCAP 5, pp. 299-302

Journal papers: academic

• 2006 'Capturing the spirit’ reviewing literary translation', Angles on the English-Speaking World VI: Literary Translation: World Literature or 'Worlding' Literature.
• 2005 'Following Neruda’s footsteps: A pilgrimage to Machu Picchu', Esharp 4.
• 2005 'Text selection and the image of the other: translations of Pablo Neruda’s Canto general', EnterText 4.3.

Show all publications