Translating cultural studies

• Published in: Cultural studies (London, England) Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 163 - 187
• Main Author: Pelillo-Hestermeyer, Giulia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03.03.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Automatic processes; Cultural studies; disciplinarity; Distinctiveness; Elitism; Globalization; Institutionalization; language diversity; Segmentation; transculturality; Translation
• ISSN: 0950-2386; 1466-4348
• DOI: 10.1080/09502386.2022.2134433

This paper engages with the transculturalization of Cultural Studies by focusing on the theoretical and political implications of translating it. This is a question that has been discussed over the years, especially in the context of the global spread and the institutionalization (or lack thereof) of cultural studies in universities outside of Britain in the early 1990s. In this context cultural studies practitioners have questioned the very use of labels such as 'internationalization' or 'globalization', and expressed concerns about whether its expansion would happen at the expense of its distinctiveness. I pick up this discussion while re-framing it from a perspective which focuses on the politics of translation. I argue that translation is not a linear or automatic process (you bring something from A to B and it gets translated), but a collective work which is translingual, trans- and extradisciplinary. From this perspective, cultural studies has always been characterized by a strong commitment to translation. If labels such as 'British' or 'American' cultural studies obscure this commitment, this is because of a narrow understanding of translation as a cultural practice. In light of these considerations, I point to translation as a fundamental means to oppose cultural elitism, and the fragmentation of intellectual engagement produced by disciplinary, (inter)nationalizing and globalizing trends. Against this background, the paper stresses the potential of translation work with respect to re-thinking cultural studies' distinctiveness in the current conjuncture.