Isabel Parkinson
Biography
I graduated from Worcester College, Oxford with a BA in German and Philosophy in 2019 (First Class), before completing my MA in Translation Studies at the University of Sheffield (Distinction). After my MA, I spent a year working at a sixth form college in an outreach / pastoral capacity, before returning to Oxford in 2021 to begin my DPhil in Medieval and Modern Languages.
Research
My research will examine English translations of a selection of German language novels, from Irmgard Keun’s Das kunstseidene Mädchen and Gilgi to, provisionally, Sasha Marianna Salzmann’s Ausser Sich. I will focus particularly on consciousness narratives whose authors have attempted to (and sometimes struggled to) articulate women’s minds – I am eager to investigate how, and how successfully, these attempts have been translated into English.
I am working under the supervision of Dr Georgina Paul at St Hilda’s College, and my research is generously supported by the Clarendon Fund, the OOC AHRC DTP Scholarship, and the St Hugh’s College Flora Welch Scholarship.
Teaching and Other Roles
I teach Unseen Translation from German for first years, second years, and finalists. I also occasionally teach the Prelims poetry paper and a selection of Paper VIII topics. As part of my teaching, I have been awarded Associate Fellowship of the HEA.
In Hilary 2023 I began working as a Graduate Ambassador for the MML faculty, which involves designing and delivering sessions for school students at outreach events to promote language learning and further study at Oxford. My sessions have ranged from tactile translations of German poetry, to English-to-English translation classes.
Other Work
Hilary 2022 – winner of the St Hugh’s College Edith McMorran Verse Translation Prize, with a translation of Marlene Streeruwitz’s Der Abend nach dem Begräbnis der besten Freundin. [https://www.st-hughs.ox.ac.uk/st-hughs-announces-the-winner-of-the-edith-mcmorran-prize-2022/]
Hilary 2022 – presented a talk on ‘Authers, Lovhers, and Herstories: Translation as Disruption’ in the postgraduate roundtable at the OCCT Metaphors in Translation Conference. [https://www.occt.ox.ac.uk/cct-review/conference-review-reflections-metaphors-translation-conference/]
Trinity 2022 – chaired the Spatial and Temporal Determinism panel and presented a paper entitled ‘Bridget Jones’ Stenography: The Importance of a Translation’s Historical Moment’ in the Spaces of Comparison panel at the 19th Annual German Graduate Symposium on Space, Time, and Direction, held in Oxford. [https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/events/2022/05/06/19th-annual-german-graduate-symposium-space-time-and-direction/]
Trinity 2022 – presented a paper entitled ‘ “Wie kann ich als Frau zu einer Stimme kommen?”: Analysing English translations of women-authored consciousness narratives’ at the Clarendon Colloquium, held at Lincoln College.
Trinity 2022 – presented a paper entitled ‘Let’s (Not) Talk About Sex, Baby: Promiscuity and Profanity in English Translations of Das kunstseidene Mädchen (1932)’ at the 70th National Postgraduate Colloquium in German Studies held at King’s College, London. [https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/26267/]
Michaelmas 2022 — present – served on the Clarendon Scholars’ Council as Communications Officer and editor of the Clarendon Chronicle.
Michaelmas 2022 — Trinity 2023 – co-convened the Modern German Graduate Seminar, and co-organised the ‘Movement and Moment’ 20th Annual Modern German Graduate Symposium, held at St Hugh’s College in May 2023.
Michaelmas 2022 - Michaelmas 2023 – member of the organising committee for the 8th Annual AHRC International ‘Entanglements’ Conference. [Entanglements — 2023 AHRC International Conference | Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (oocdtp.ac.uk)]
