Dr Peter Freeth

About

I hold a BA (Hons) in German from the University of Leeds and continued my studies there to complete an MA in Applied Translation Studies and a PhD in Translation.

Since completing my PhD, I have held teaching and research positions at the University of Leeds (2021-22), Aston University (2022-23), Goldsmiths (2022-23) and most recently London Metropolitan University (2023-26).

I serve as a series editor for Leuven University Press' book series Translation, Interpreting and Mediation and assistant editor for Translation in Society. I was awarded the 2023 Martha Cheung Award for my article Germany asks: is it OK to laugh at Hitler? and in 2026, I joined the teaching staff of the CETRA Research Summer School in Translation.

Alongside my academic work, I am an experienced translator and have worked both in-house on the technical team at SDL and as a freelancer specialising in creative and book translation.

Research interests

• Translator visibility
• Paratext theory and digital textuality
• Sociology of translation
• Rewriting and adaptation
• Social media and digital culture
• Translation pedagogy
• Generative AI in translator training

My research examines the visibility, positioning and social role of translators and translation in contemporary digital culture. I have published on a range of topics, including the adaptation of paratext theory for digital contexts, the digitization of translation archives and sources, and ethical issues related to race and representation in the translation classroom.

More recently, I have led projects investigating student perspectives on the implementation of generative AI in translator training, the impact of the Society of Authors' #TranslatorsOnTheCover campaign and the application of Lefevere's theory of rewriting to social media and digital remix culture.

Media appearances

New Books Network Podcast:

 

London Book Fair 2026:

Official Webpage for the panel Getting Out of the Margins

Publishing Perspectives Article

Teaching

I serve as the language-specific tutor for German students on translation modules at all levels, and teach translation theory, research skills and professional practices in the language industry across BA and MA programmes in translation and transcultural studies.

Research supervision

I welcome proposals from prospective research students whose projects relate to the research interests listed above. Information on eligibility requirements is available here.

I am currently supervising PhD students on topics including the ethics of representation and the distortion of humour in translation.

Publications

Monograph

Freeth, Peter J. 2027. Investigating Translator Visibility in the Digital Paratextual Space. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Investigating-Translator-Visibility-in-the-Digital-Paratextual-Space/Freeth/p/book/9781032910222 

Journal articles

Freeth, Peter J., and Piero Toto. 2026. “The Impact of AI-in-the-Loop Pedagogy: An Action Research Approach to Integrating AI Technologies in Translator Training.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer [Online first]. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2026.2646863

Zhang, Wenqian, Motoko Akashi, and Peter J. Freeth. 2024. “Locating the Digital in Literary Translatorship.” Literary Translatorship in Digital Contexts – Special issue of Translation in Society, 3(1), pp. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.24008.zha

Freeth, Peter J. 2023. “Peripheral Vision and Challenging Invisibilities: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections on the ‘Digitized Turn’ and ‘Born-Digital’ Sources in Archives of Translation and Translators.” Translation in Society 2 (2), pp. 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.23008.fre

Freeth, Peter J. 2023. “Between ‘Consciously Crafted’ and the ‘Vastness of Context’: Collateral Paratextuality and its Implications for Translation Studies.” Media Paratexts and Translation, special issue of Translation Studies edited by Kathryn Batchelor and Chiara Bucaria, 16 (3): 419–435. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2023.2194882

Freeth, Peter J. 2021. “‘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.” Transnational Image Building: Linking up Translation Studies, Reception Studies and Imagology, special issue of Translation Spaces edited by Paola Gentile, Fruzsina Kovács and Marike van der Watt, 10 (1): 115–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ts.20003.fre

Freeth, Peter J. 2021. “Conceptualising the Role of the Translator in the Global Circulation of Literature: The Case of Look Who’s Back and Jamie Bulloch’s translatorship.” Trans: Revue de Littérature Générale et Comparée 16. http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/trans.6564

Book chapters

Toto, Piero, and Peter J. Freeth. 2025. “Student Perspectives on the Use and Importance of Generative AI in Translator Training at London Metropolitan University.” In: Nuevos retos y oportunidades para el ejercicio profesional y la formación en traducción e interpretación: Inteligencia artificial y nuevas tecnologías, edited by Jessica María Pérez-Luzardo Díaz and Laura Cruz García. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, pp. 159–180. https://doi.org/10.20420/1826.2025.825

Freeth, Peter J. 2024. “Race and Ethics in the Translation Classroom: Reflections on Teaching the Amanda Gorman’s Translators Controversies as a White British Lecturer.” In: Teaching Translation – Contexts, Modes and Technologies, edited by Martin Ward, Carlo Eugeni, and Callum Walker. London: Routledge, pp. 69–87. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003440970-6

Freeth, Peter J. 2024. “‘Yes: I translated it!’: Visibility and the Performance of Translatorship in the Digital Paratextual Space.” In: Beyond the Translator’s Invisibility: Critical Reflections and New Perspectives. Edited by Peter J. Freeth and Rafael Treviño. Leuven: Leuven University Press, pp. 147–172. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.9827043.9 

Edited volumes

Freeth, Peter J. and Rafael Treviño (eds). 2024. Beyond the Translator’s Invisibility: Critical Reflections and New Perspectives. Leuven: Leuven University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.9827043

Special issues

Zhang, Wenqian, Motoko Akashi, and Peter J. Freeth (eds). 2024. “Literary Translatorship in Digital Contexts.” Special issue of Translation in Society, 3 (1), Spring 2024. https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.3.1 

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2023
• PhD in Translation Studies, 2022, University of Leeds
• MA Applied Translation Studies, 2017, University of Leeds
• BA (Hons) German, 2016, University of Leeds