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Melissa Pawelski

I have joined the University of Warwick in October 2017 as a PhD student and my project is supervised by Dr Oliver Davis (French Studies) and Professor Stuart Elden (PAIS). I am based in the School of Modern Languages (French Studies).
My thesis considers the English and German translations of Michel Foucault’s Surveiller et punir. Naissance de la prison (Paris: Gallimard, 1975): Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison, translated by Alan Sheridan (London: Penguin, 1991 [1977]) Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses, translated by Walter Seitter (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1977)
I am particularly interested in the translation of concepts and ideas, such as pouvoir, puissance, supplice, dispositif and assujettissement. I have also started to explore Michel Foucault’s writing style and use of rhetoric, including metaphors and irony. The aim of this project is to make a contribution to the emerging disciplinary association of Translation Studies, Philosophy and Theory that recognises philosophical and theoretical texts as particularly challenging for translation.
Research interests
  • Translation of Philosophy and Theory
  • Philosophy and Theory of Translation
  • Michel Foucault
  • Philosophy of Geography
  • Reception and influence of philosophy and social theory in the social sciences
Conferences
11th May 2019
Translating Philosophy and Theory - Style, Rhetoric and Concepts
Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick, One Day Interdisciplinary Conference
Organiser (HRC Doctoral Fellow)
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/hrc/confs/tpt
12th - 13th October 2018
La réception de la pensée française contemporaine au prisme de la traduction
Université Paris 3 La Sorbonne Nouvelle
Speaker 'Lire Michel Foucault en anglais: L'exemple de Surveiller et punir'
http://www.univ-paris3.fr/la-reception-de-la-pensee-francaise-contemporaine-au-prisme-de-la-traduction-505218.kjsp
23rd May 2018
PG Annual Symposium of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Questioning the disappearance of disciplinary boundaries, University of Warwick
Organiser & Speaker 'Connecting knowledges: Translation Studies as an interdiscipline'
26th – 28th January 2017
Neue Kulturgeographie XIV Konferenz, Bayreuth University, Germany
Presentation (in German): “Michel Foucault: ein relevanter Denker für die Humangeographie? Ein Einblick in das deutsche, französische und britische Forschungsfeld” (Michel Foucault, a relevant thinker in Human Geography? Insights into the German, French and British research fields).
Publications
M. Pawelski, 'Traduire les concepts - le cas du supplice dans Surveiller et punir', in Palimpsestes 33 (2019), pp. 53-65.
Teaching
2019-20
Term 1 Seminar tutor FR121 Story of Modern France Wednesdays 10-11am H4.43

Full year Language Tutor FR201 Translation II Term 1 (w 3, 5, 8, 10); Term 2 (w 2, 4, 7, 9) and Term 3 (w 1, 3)
Thursdays 11-12pm H1.48
Fridays 11-12pm H0.60
Administrative Roles
2019-20 PG Rep for the Society for French Studies (SFS)
2018-19 SSLC Chair for SMLC
2017-18 SSLC Course Rep French Studies for SMLC
Awards
2018-19 HRC Doctoral Fellowship, University of Warwick
2018-21 CADRE Doctoral Scholarship, University of Warwick
2015-16 Postgraduate Scholarship, Swansea University
2015-16 Ede and Ravenscroft Anniversary Student Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Student Life
2014-15 Erasmus and Explo'RA (France, Rhône-Alpes) student bursaries
Membership
The Society for French Studies
Qualifications
BA (Lyon), 2015
MSc by Research (Swansea), 2017
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Melissa Pawelski

m dot pawelski at warwick dot ac dot uk

Room: H1.01

Office hours: please email me