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Dr Peter Freeth

Dr Peter Freeth

  • Position: Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Areas of expertise: translation theory, translator visibility, digital paratextuality, sociological approaches, literary translation, German to English translation
  • Email: P.J.Freeth@leeds.ac.uk
  • Website: Twitter | Googlescholar | ORCID

Profile

I completed a BA (Hons) in German at the University of Leeds in 2016, where I stayed to complete an MA in Applied Translation Studies 2017 and my PhD, which I completed in 2022. I currently teach translation theory, translation technology and language for specialised purposes at Aston University, where my teaching excellence has been recognsied through Fellowship with Advance HEA.

Alongside my academic work, I have worked as both a freelance and in-house translator within a multinational LSP specialising in creative and marketing content, as well as technical texts. I also work with German-based publisher V&Q Books to promote their English-language translations of remarkable writing from Germany in Britain and Ireland and to run translation workshops for UG and MA level students.

Research interests

My research has primarily focussed on the issue of the translator’s visibility within digital paratextual spaces and how we can assess the translator’s visibility within complex multimodal constellations of both digital and non-digital paratextual materials. This coincides with my wider research interests of literary translation, paratext theory, the sociology of literary translation and contemporary literature in translation (particularly German literature). I have also presented and written work on digital approaches to microhistory and am interested in the impact of digital and online technology on existing research paradigms and methodologies.

In 2023 I was awarded the Martha Cheung Award for Best English Article in Translation Studies by an Early Career Scholar for my article ‘“Germany asks: Is it OK to laugh at Hitler?” Translating humour and Germanness in the paratexts of Er ist wieder da and Look Who’s Back’, published in Translation Spaces 10/1 (2021).

Alongside my own research, I have also co-edited a volume entitled “Beyond the translator’s invisibility” that is currently in review with Leuven University Press and am acting as part of a guest editorial team for issue 3:1 of Translation in Society, entitled “Literary translatorship in digital contexts”.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) German
  • MA Applied Translation Studies
  • PhD in German Translation (ongoing)

Professional memberships

  • Fellowship with Advance HE
  • EST Member

Student education

I have served as module leader and tutor on various undergraduate and postgrduate modules in Translation Studies and German at Aston University and the University of Leeds, teaching topics including practical German to English translation, translation theory and translation technology. I have also acted as a year abroad tutor and dissertation supervision for both final year UG and PGT students.

Research groups and institutes

  • Centre for Translation Studies
  • German