Laura Woolley-Nunez

Thesis title:

Recovering Anti-Francoist Women�s Voices: A Feminist Translation of Maria Teresa Leon�s Memoria de la melancolia

My practice-based project will translate Maria Teresa León’s (1903–1983) complex memoir Memoria de la Melancolia (1970) and produce a coexisting critical commentary to address the overarching research question of which feminist translation strategies are most fit for the purposes of recovering Spanish lost anti-Francoist women’s voices and presenting the historical context to a new target audience. It will contribute to filling the gaps left in the history of women authors during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and Franco’s dictatorial regime (1939–1975) by using translation to reinstate the León’s anti-Francoist voice which has never been translated into English.

Research Area

Interpreting and Translation
Languages and Literature

Conferences

“Exploring Memory, Exile and Trauma through the Translation of a Spanish Memoir (1970)” — II Lisbon Spring School of Translation Studies, 3-8 June 2024 (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

"Exploring feminist translation strategies in María Teresa León’s Memory of Melancholia" — International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting 2023, 23-24 November 2023 (Heriot-Watt University)

"Translating testimonies of patriarchal violence: Memoria de la melancolía by María Teresa León" — WISPS XXIII Annual Conference Gender + Violence, 10-11 November 2023 (University of Warwick)

"Translating María Teresa León’s Memory of Melancholy" — Midlands4Cities Research Festival 2023, 4 October 2023 (Austin Court, Birmingham)

"Sites of resistance in the translation of Spanish antifascist autobiographical writing" — When I Dare To Be Powerful International Conference, 21 June 2023 (Nottingham Trent University)

Public Engagement & Impact

Organsier, Lit Translation Workshops which are open to research students and staff interested in literary translation practice from any language into English (2022 – present).

Chaired roundtable "Producing Totalitarism: Fascism in the Cultural Imaginary" — The Culture of Fascism SymposiumLink opens in a new window, 8 March 2023 (University of Warwick).

Other Research Interests

Transnational feminist translation studies
Feminist translation strategies
Literary translation
Writing and translating exile
Translation and style
Autofiction and life writing

Memberships

Emerging Translators Network

Other activities

Attended Bristol TranslatesLink opens in a new window summer school, 3–7 July 2023 (University of Bristol).

Attended Warwick School of Feminist TranslationLink opens in a new window, 11–12 May 2023 (University of Warwick).

Teaching

2023-24:

LN102 Translation: Methods and Practice (Spanish tutor and first marker)

LN313 Undergraduate Translation Project (supervisor and first marker for projects with Spanish)

LN902 Translation Portfolio (Spanish tutor and first marker)

2022-23:

LN102 Translation: Methods and Practice (first marker for the Spanish-language pathway)