Speaker
Despoina Gkogkou (University of Patras)
Abstract
My presentation will be centered around our latest project μέταdata. The aim of the project is the compilation of all the indexed data regarding the translations of literary texts (covering mainly but not exclusively novels, short stories, and poems) published in Greek magazines, newspapers, and anthologies from 1870 until 1974. Our research on the field of ‘translation archaeology’ is not studying the primary sources; we analyze the work already done by Greek scholars and postgraduate students, a work that has been already reviewed and published. By creating a collective index and compiling information that is vital for the history of the Modern Greek Culture, whereas dispersed in several publications, we hope to offer scholars a useful tool for their comparative studies.
The investigation of the Greek Press, as an important primary source for the study of Modern Greek Culture and History, has led to several thesis, published works, seminars, and projects (the latter offering also digitized material, but not always the necessary metadata to describe it). All these works are used massively by Greek and foreign scholars. The only problem is that one must go through several portals/works to find the necessary information.
Our idea is to record all indexed translations in one spreadsheet, with the descriptive metadata covering the source (periodical or other publication), the date published, the title, the name of the author, the translator, and the source language, if applicable. We use authority records to have a uniform and standardized form of names throughout our database. We are also including the original title, when given in the original index.
This will be the first presentation of the project, the idea around it, and the steps we followed for its launch. The project is a collaboration of the Library and Information Center and the Department of Philology of University of Patras, one amongst many fruitful synergies between the two.