CALL FOR PAPERS
Matraga Journal invites submissions for the next issues. Matraga, published by the Graduate Program in Letters at UERJ, is a senior publication, aiming at promoting a critical review on issues in the fields of Literature and Linguistics studies. Original papers and book reviews in Portuguese, English, Spanish or French are welcome. Papers are submitted to double-blind peer review and must strictly follow Matraga Journal guidelines for paper submission.
Read bellow the complete call for papers. Submissions are online.
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MATRAGA 66
This issue is devoted to Linguistics Studies, with the theme Literary translation: canon, nation, and gender studies.
THEME
Over the last fifty years, translation theories have evolved in various directions. Marked by the so-called Cultural Turn and influenced by post-structuralism, these theories reached a significant turning point with Jacques Derrida. The previously dominant logocentric approach to translation gave way to the more fluid and unstructured writing style of the Franco-Maghrebian theorist, whose work centered on deconstructing the text in relation to the Other. This shift has profoundly affected the relationship between original and translated texts and the interaction between texts originating from different times and contexts.
Similarly, Antoine Berman (1984, 1991) introduced an ethical and political dimension to his translation theory, which had a transformative impact on the field and has strongly resonated with Brazilian scholars. Central to Berman's theory is his critique of what he terms 'ethnocentric' translation, which undermines the culture of the Other—the foreign and 'strange'—in favor of the target country's culture, often a dominant nation. Berman advocates for a foreignizing approach to translation, preserving the unique characteristics of the original culture. This approach contrasts with reader-friendly translation practices but does not fully address the linguistic and cultural complexities inherent in the original text.
Lawrence Venuti (1995, 1998) builds on Berman's work by emphasizing how, for decades, the United States has cultivated a culture that renders translators invisible through the promotion of a regime of fluency. In other words, translators are expected to provide their readers with an illusion of transparency, producing prose that is "natural," "elegant," and "lovely." Venuti (1995) also argues that, even in cases where the ideal of fluency does not dominate a nation's publishing market, every translation is inherently violent. He introduces the concept of "symptomatic reading," revealing how translations follow historical patterns shaped by laws of ethnocentric violence, which seek to erase features of so-called developing countries that could disrupt the status quo of Global North nations. This practice is crucial, as the relationship between North and South has always been unilateral—or, as Evando Nascimento (2021, p. 195) asserts: "[...] the dialogue between North and South never truly occurred; it has remained a monologue of the North with itself, whose discourses inevitably echo, sooner or later, on the southern side of the Equator." Therefore, there is both a choice of what to translate and how to translate it. Which Brazil is selected for translation? And how does it appear in the bookstores of France, England, and the United States?
Finally, Olga Castro and María Laura Spoturno (2020) emphasize that feminism has been advocating for a critical and pluralistic approach from researchers in developing transnational feminist translation studies. The goal of this debate is fundamentally intersectional, seeking to "facilitate cross-border alliances that challenge asymmetries—especially among women—as a preliminary step toward transforming reality and fostering debates that oppose colonial violence" (Castro & Spoturno, 2020, p. 14). For this reason, feminist translation studies align with the broader discussions of canon, nation, and gender that have been central to Translation Studies in recent decades.
We invite authors interested in discussing literary translation through the lenses of canon, nation, and gender studies, as well as those who analyze various translation strategies between different language pairs, to submit their contributions to this issue of Matraga.
EDITORS:
Wagner Monteiro (UERJ) e Rebeca Hernández (Universidad de Salamanca)
SUBMISSION DATE:
Submission of papers and book reviews: March 31st, 2025
Issue Publication: September 2025
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MATRAGA 65
This issue is devoted to Linguistic Studies, with the theme Digital Humanities and Data Science from the South: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Inclusion, Power, and Technology
THEME
This dossier explores diverse theoretical and methodological approaches in Digital Humanities, integrating computational methods and large volumes of data for sociocultural analysis. It promotes interdisciplinary dialogue that spans various fields of knowledge, from language studies to science and technology studies. Characterized by its interdisciplinarity, transnationality, and multilingualism, the dossier delves into Digital Humanities from and for the Global South, addressing Data Feminism, intersectional and anti-racist digital studies. These studies challenge the supposed neutrality and universality of the subject in Digital Humanities and Data Science, highlighting how dominant epistemologies and technologies are perpetuated. Additionally, it promotes research that, through methodologies aware of power inequalities, reflects on inclusion and exclusion related to race, gender, language, colonialism, and geolocation, aiming to redesign the digital platforms and algorithms’ practices and structures.
This dossier seeks contributions that explore the impact of artificial intelligence in various social spheres, particularly from and towards the Global South, focusing on both the development and critical evaluation of existing technologies. It primarily seeks to foster an ethical and critical view of artificial intelligence.
To encourage a culturally enriched critical debate, the call for submissions covers a variety of disciplines that explore the intersection of technology, society, and culture from critical and transformative perspectives. Highlighted topics include digital discourse analysis and technodiscursive analysis, which propose a composite conception of discourse that erases any boundary between the discursive and the technical dimensions, as well as the linguistic and the extralinguistic. Proposals for works that study the ethical impact of artificial intelligence on sustainable development, and bias and equity in AI algorithms, questioning who benefits or is harmed by automated decisions, are also welcomed.
An important theme for this dossier is the decolonization of artificial intelligence, proposing methodologies that question dominant technological narratives and practices. Works that critically evaluate AI projects to determine their strengths and limitations will also be considered. Additionally, contributions on decolonial feminist digital archives that reconsider the preservation of history and culture from feminist and anticolonial perspectives are invited.
Submissions that explore intersectionality and digital media analyzing how multiple matrices of oppression affect online experiences and how digital platforms can foster autonomy and expression, are encouraged. Furthermore, the dossier seeks to integrate digital and gender studies with critical approaches to virtual teaching and learning, and proposals on feminist digital pedagogies. Submissions that investigate the influence of gender norms in computing through the study of programming languages and gender, and gender-based violence in digital spaces to address online security challenges, are also invited. Finally, the dossier will include works on digital history and art from feminist, decolonial, and anti-racist perspectives, highlighting how digital culture can be a space of resistance and critical reimagining.
EDITORS:
Alejandra Josiowicz (UERJ-FAPERJ) e Genoveva Vargas Solar (CNRS, LIRIS, França)
SUBMISSION DATE:
Submission of papers and book reviews: [October 31st, 2024] - extended until November 15th, 2024
Issue Publication: May 2025
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MATRAGA 64
This non-thematic issue is devoted to Linguistics and Literary Studies
THEME
Matraga Journal welcomes original research papers and book reviews in the fields of Linguistics and Literary Studies.
EDITORS:
Tania Maria Nunes de Lima Camara (UERJ) e Marcelo Brandão Mattos (UERJ)
SUBMISSION DATE:
Submission of papers and book reviews: June 30th, 2024 [submissions closed]
Issue Publication: January 2025
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Papers might not exceed 25 pages.
Book reviews might not exceed 8 pages.
Read the author guidelines for more information on submission.
Submission of papers and book reviews: January 31st, 2018
Issue Publication: May 2018
