Dr Peter Cowley

PhD (University of Queensland), BA (University of Queensland), DEA (Université de Paris 7)
Lecturer
Room 748, A18 Christopher Brennan Building
peter.cowley@sydney.edu.au
+61 2 9351 4547

Research areas

Translation Studies – translation in different historical moments (Antiquity, the Renaissance, 19th century German romanticism); its relationship to various disciplinary agendas, such as linguistics, postmodern philosophy and critical theory, the Translation Studies school; its bearing on questions of epistemology and interdisciplinarity.
Cultural competence in the second language classroom – interdisciplinary approaches to the teaching of cultural skills; their relevance to the teaching of French; the role of ICTs and Web 2.0 in the language / culture nexus.
French and francophone science fiction.

Current projects

Translator Figures: Narrative Discipline across Genres
Cross-cultural communication in cross-disciplinary contexts.
Generic self-awareness in Jules Verne.

Selected publications

Monograph translation

Michel Serres, The Five Senses. London, Continuum Press, 2008. With Margaret Sankey.

Book Chapters

"Anglophones, Francophones, Telephones: The case of a disputed Wikipedia entry." With Barbara Hanna, in Intercultural Communication in the New Era, Farzad Sharifian and Maryam Jamarani (eds). In press – Routledge, 2012.
“Sense and Sensibility: Translating the Bodily Experience”. With Margaret Sankey, in Michel Serres, The Five Senses. A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies. London, Continuum, 2008.
'Is there a class in this room?' With Barbara Hanna, in Teaching Languages, Teaching Cultures. Anthony J. Liddicoat and Chantal Crozet, eds. Melbourne, Language Australia, 2000. Previously published by A.R.A.L.
'An A-to-Z of Uptakes: Debates and Disciplines'. With Juliana de Nooy; final chapter of de Nooy, Derrida, Kristeva and the Dividing Line: An Articulation of the Work of Two French Theorists. New York, Garland Press, 1998

Articles

“Translation and Translators in Amélie Nothomb’s Autobiographical Fiction”, Australian Journal of French Studies (vol. XLVIII, no 3), Sept-Dec 2011, pp. 271-281.
“Forging the Self”, Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 17, nº 2, December 2007.
"Cross-cultural skills – across the disciplinary divide." With Barbara Hanna. Language and Communication, Volume 25, Issue 1, January 2005, pp 1-17.
"The Baudin Expedition in Review: Old Quarrels and New Approaches." With Margaret Sankey and Jean Fornasiero. Australian Journal of French Studies, vol. XLI, number 2, May-August 2004, pp. 4-14.
"Lost and found: the language of exile", in Traduire le vécu Mots Pluriels. March 2003.

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Areas of teaching and research supervision

Teaching

Translation Studies
The French tradition of science fiction (and other “genre” fiction)
Intercultural competence
Advanced French language

Supervision

Honours - current

“Translations and Transformations of Carmen”
“Bilingualism in Beckett”

Honours - recent

“Formes de déplacement dans le théâtre de Beckett”
“The Metaporphosis of Ovid’s Metamorphoses”

PhD candidates

“Translating the Unspeakable: terminology and narrative strategies of the 1994 Rwandan genocide”

Other professional contributions

Research and Postgraduate Officer, Executive Committee, Australian Society for French Studies
Co-convenor “Playtime” ASFS Conference, University of Sydney, 2010
Co-convenor “Regards croisés” ASFS Conference, University of Sydney, 2002
Co-convenor ASFS Conference, University of Queensland, 1995