The aim of the conference is methodological reflection on and historical examination of the connection between the translational and the spatial turn in research settings devoted specifically to the Early Modern period. The focus will thus be on an early epoch of globalization during which the ‘old’ world took increasing interest in non-European regions and cultures. Spurred on by Europe’s exponentiated multilingualism and territoriality, European translation cultures resonated worldwide by way of the bidirectional channels of colonialism in the Early Modern period. In the process, they interacted with translation cultures elsewhere, in turn bringing about reactions and sparking new developments within Europe.

Where were translations carried out and received in the period under investigation? What spaces do those translations describe and stage, using what techniques? What regions were associated with—or disassociated from—one another through translations? Taking this question complex as its point of departure, the conference will seek to gain new insights from the interweave of translation studies and topological research in the cultural studies field from two perspectives: