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About

I am currently (2018-) a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University, where I teach Translation Studies and Spanish language and culture. In 2013 I completed my Ph.D. in translation and literary reception and I moved to Georgetown University to teach Language and Culture, as well as Translation (2015-2018). My main research area is the reception of translations, field for which I published a dozen articles so far. Nowadays, I focus my interests on the Spanish censorship over the translations into Catalan in the 1960s and more recently, I also study reception in social media of audiovisual content.

My primary areas of study are translation and the history of publishing. More specifically, I specialize in literary reception, cross-border cultures and minority languages, with a focus on cultural studies and translation history. I make use of archives and field methods (e.g., interviews) in my research, and bring these methods and practices to the classroom when teaching Spanish culture and conversation courses as well as translation courses.

My current work focuses on the censorship of translations into Catalan enforced by Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco during the 1960s. The goals are this project is twofold: first, to gain a better understanding of the means by which censorship prevented publications during this period. Second, to increase awareness of the forgotten publishers who suffered the pressure of the dictatorship and better understand how they continued to increase publications in banned fields. In this sense, I investigate how Catalan, that was prohibited in some of the public events and also at school, was kept alive thanks to translations into this language.

I have been part of four research and development projects; two from the Catalan Government, (2009-2012 and 2014-2017) and two from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (2008-2011 and 2011-2014). I recently earned a grant (Institució de les Lletres Catalanes, Generalitat de Catalunya) to write a book about Josep M. Boix i Selva, director of Vergara Publishing House, focusing on the publishing house’s series of translations into Catalan (“Isard”) and its troubles with censorship.

Education

Ph.D. University of Vic (Catalonia, Spain), Department of Didactics of
Language and Literature, 2013
Program on Translation, Languages and Literatures
La recepció de Canigó, de Jacint Verdaguer, a Barcelona, València, Mallorca i Madrid (1886-1936) [The reception of Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer, in Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca and Madrid (1886-1936)]
Committee: Ramon Pinyol, M. Àngels Verdaguer and Jordi Larios

M.A. University of Vic, Department of Catalan Philology and Literature, 2011
Methodology and Translation Analysis

B.A. University of Vic
Translation and Interpreting, 2004-2008

Blog Posts

Publications

Book

Vilardell, Laura. Books against Tyranny: Catalan Publishers under Franco. Vanderbilt University Press. 210 pages in length, 2022.

Edited Volume

Traducció i censura en el Franquisme, edited by Laura Vilardell, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2016.

Book Chapters

Pinyol Torrents, Ramon, and Vilardell, Laura. “La censura franquista contra un intel·lectual addicte al règim. El cas del romanès Vintila Horia i la traducció al català de Déu ha nascut a l’exili” [“The Francoist Dictatorship Against an Intellectual Addicted to the Francoist Regime. The case of the Romanian Vintila Horia and the Catalan Translation of Dieu est né en exil ”]. Traduccions i diàlegs culturals amb el català, edited by Joan Llinàs Suau, Miorar Adelina Anghelutã, et al. Editura Universitãtii din Bucaresti, 2018 (“Romanica, 25”), pp. 163-179.

Vilardell, Laura. “Torras i Bages, Josep”. Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe, edited by Joep Leerssen, vol. 1. Amsterdam University Press, 2018, pp. 563-564. Also available online at: Amsterdam: Study Platform on Interlocking Nationalisms, http://romanticnationalism.net/viewer.p/21/56/object/131-159128), article version 1.1.1.1/a, last changed 10-08-2018, consulted 09-01-2019.

Vilardell, Laura. “Almirall i Llozer, Valentí”. Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe, edited by Joep Leerssen, vol. 1. Amsterdam University Press, 2018, pp. 563-564. Also available online at: Amsterdam: Study Platform on Interlocking Nationalisms, http://romanticnationalism.net/viewer.p/21/56/object/131-158361 article version 1.1.1.2/a, last changed 10-08-2018, consulted 09-01-2019.

Coromina i Pou, Eusebi and Vilardell, Laura. “La traducció de Vol de nit d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: entre la censura i la recerca d’un model de llengua narratiu”. [“The translation of Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: between censorship and towards the construction of a narrative model”]. Literatura catalana contemporània : memòria, traducció i noves tecnologies, edited by Joaquim Espinós and Lliris Picó. Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 2017, p. 173-189.

Pou, Ester and Vilardell, Laura. “Literatura i traducció a l’aula de CLE: un cas pràctic” [“Literature and translation in a Catalan as a foreign language classroom. A practical case”]. L’Ensenyament del català als territoris de parla catalana: estat de la qüestió i perspectives de futur, edited by Núria Camps, Llorenç Comajoan, Mariona Casas and Teresa Puntí. Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Facultat d’Educació, Traducció i Ciències Humanes. 2016, p. 315-330.

Vilardell, Laura. “La col·lecció «Isard», d’Editorial Vergara, i la censura: el cas d’After Many a Summer” [The Catalan series “Isard,” Vergara Publisher, and the Francoist Censorship: the Case of After Many a Summer]. Traducció i Censura en el Franquisme, edited by Laura Vilardell,  Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2016, pp. 171-180.

Vilardell, Laura. “Aproximació a les traduccions castellanes de Canigó al segle XIX” [Approach to the Spanish Translations of Canigó in the 19th Century]. Actes del XVI Col·loqui Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes, 2015, pp. 315-327.

Vilardell, Laura. “El comte de Cedillo, excursionista i difusor de Canigó, de Jacint Verdaguer” [The Count of Cedillo, Traveler and Transmitter of Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer]. Per vells carrers de poble. Territori, marca, educació i patrimoni, edited by Jordi Chumillas and Ricard Giramé. Servei de Publicacions Institucionals de la Universitat de Vic, 2014, pp. 470-476.

Vilardell, Laura. “El comte de Cedillo, traductor coetani de Jacint Verdaguer al castellà. Una aproximació” [The Count of Cedillo, Contemporary Translator of Jacint Verdaguer into Spanish. An Approach]. Traduir els clàssics antics i moderns, edited by M. Àngels Verdaguer, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2013, pp. 257-266.

Pinyol Torrents, Ramon and Vilardell, Laura. “L’escriptor i el sacerdot Jacint Verdaguer en el marc de l’església barcelonina del seu temps” [Jacint Verdaguer, the Writer and Priest in the Framework of the Barcelonan Church of his Time]. Verdaguer reavaluat. El Fons de la Biblioteca Pública Episcopal de Barcelona, edited by Isabel de Colmenares Brunet, Facultat de Filosofia de la Universitat Ramon Llull, Càtedra Verdaguer d’Estudis Literaris, 2013, pp. 9-34.

Vilardell, Laura. “Una aproximació a la col·lecció Isard” [An Approach to the “Isard” series]. La traducció i el món editorial de postguerra, edited by Sílvia Coll-Vinent, Cornèlia Eisne and Enric Gallén, Punctum & Trilcat, 2011, pp. 253-272.

Pinyol Torrents, Ramon and Vilardell, Laura. “Dos traductores andaluces coetáneos del poeta catalán Jacinto Verdaguer” [Two Andalusian Translators Contemporaries of the Poet Jacint Verdaguer]. Traducción y tradición. Textos humanísticos y literarios, edited by Manuel Marcos Aldón and Ángeles García Calderón. Córdoba: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba, 2010, pp. 345-354.

Articles
Vilardell, Laura. 2022. “Commemoracions d’homenatge a Verdaguer a Madrid: El cas del monument al Parque del Retiro” [“Commemorations of homage to Verdaguer in Madrid: The case of the monument at Parque del Retiro”]. Ausa. Publicació del Patronat d’Estudis Osonencs, no. 187-188.

Vilardell, Laura. 2022. “Joan Gili, The Dolphin Book Company i la teoria de l’eco-traducció” [“Joan Gili, The Dolphin Book Company and the Theory of Eco-Translation”]. Quaderns, Revista de Traducció, no. 29, pp. 73-85.

Coromina, Eusebi; Vilardell, Laura. “L’americà pacífic, de la col·lecció “Isard”: entre la censura i la recerca d’un nou llenguatge literari” [“The Quiet American, of the Isard Series: between censorship and in search of a new literary language”]. Catalan Review. Liverpool University Press, XXXIII, 2019, pp. 135–155

Vilardell, Laura. “El gran poder de la crítica: el Canigó de Verdaguer i el mapa del Pirineu de l’edició de 1886.” [“The great power of the critics. Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer and the Pyrenee’s map included in the 1886 edition”]. Querol, revista cultural de Cerdanya, no. 23, 2018, pp. 34-40.

Vilardell, Laura. “Albert Camus y la censura franquista en la colección «Isard», de la Editorial Vergara.” [Albert Camus and the Francoist Censorship in the “Isard” series, Vergara Publisher] Represura. Revista de Historia Contemporánea española en torno a la represión y la censura aplicadas al libro, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, pp. 93-108.

Vilardell, Laura. “Les vicissituds de la traducció al castellà d’elements heroics i medievals del Canigó, de Jacint Verdaguer. El cas de «La Maladeta».” [The Vicissitudes of the Translation into Spanish of Heroic and Medieval Elements of Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer] SCRIPTA. Revista Internacional de Literatura i Cultura Medieval i Moderna / International Journal of Medieval & Modern Literature & Culture, vol. 3, no. 3, 2014, pp. 143-160.

Vilardell, Laura. (2014). “The Reception of Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer, in Madrid (1886-1902).” E–Humanista: Journal of Iberian Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 120-130, http://www.ehumanista.ucsb.edu/#sthash.LxDHeJKa.dpuf. Accessed 8 Oct. 2016.

Vilardell, Laura. “Les traduccions castellanes de Caritat. Unes notes.” [The Translations into Spanish of Caritat. An Approach] Anuari Verdaguer. Revista d’estudis literaris del segle XIX, no. 19, 2012, pp. 531-552.

Llanas, Manuel and Vilardell, Laura. “Tolstoi traduït per Andreu Nin: retrobament d’una «valuosa relíquia».” [Tolstoy Translated by Andreu Nin: Finding a Valuable Relic] Serra d’Or, no. 592, 2009, pp. 81-83.

Reviews

Vilardell, Laura. 2022. Review of “Epistolari J. V. Foix & Joan Gili”, by Foix and Gili, and edited by Edicions 62,Llengua & Literatura, no. 32, pp. 122–124.

Vilardell, Laura. Review of “Les traductores i la tradició. 20 pròlegs del segle XX” [Women Translators and Tradition. 20 Prologues of the Twentieth Century], by Montserrat Barcardí and Pilar Godayol, Anuari TRILCAT, no. 4, 2014, pp. 136-138.

Vilardell, Laura. “Una visió actual de Teodor Llorente” [A Contemporary View of Teodor Llorente] Review of Teodor Llorente, cent anys després, by Rafael Roca Ricart, Anuari Verdaguer, no. 21, 2013, pp. 190-192.

Vilardell, Laura. “Tot Teodor Llorente” [All Teodor Llorente] Review of Teodor Llorente, líder de la Renaixença valenciana and Teodor Llorente i la Renaixença valenciana, by Rafael Roca Ricart, Anuari Verdaguer, no. 16, 2010, pp. 554-559.

Upcoming Talks and Conferences



Vilardell, Laura. “39/The Ecology of Intralingual Translation: Localization of Audiovisual Content Under Discussion.” 7th IATIS Conference: The Cultural Ecology of Translation. Barcelona, September 14 – 17, 2021.

Vilardell, Laura. “Strategies Adopted by Publishers to Overcome Censorship of Translations into Catalan during Franco’s Regime”. 550 – Enclosure and Incarceration in Catalan Culture. 2020 MLA Annual Convention, Seattle, January, 9-12, 2020.



Vilardell, Laura. “Intralingual Localization and Reception: The Controversy Around Spanish Subtitles of the 2019 Oscar Awarded Movie Roma.” ALTA42: Sight and Sound. Rochester, NY, Hyatt Regency Rochester & Joseph A. Floreano Riverside Convention Center, November 7-November 10, 2019.

Vilardell, Laura. “Joan Gili i Serra, editor i traductor a la Gran Bretanya (1936-1996): balanç i valoració”. Catalan Studies: The Aesthetics and Politics of Conflict. 17th International Colloquium of the North American Catalan Society, University of Chicago. April 25-27, 2019.

Memberships





Modern Languages Association (MLA)

North American Catalan Society (NACS)

American Literary Translators Association (ALTA)

Asociación Ibérica de Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación (AIETI)

Associació Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes (AILLC)

Societat Catalana de Llengua i Literatura (SCLL)

Societat Verdaguer (SV)

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