European Day of Languages
We all love comics! For many children, comics are an introduction to reading, but adults also enjoy graphic novels, manga and comic books. Because comics are by no means simple picture books, but often very own works of art.
Language in comics is a challenge for translators. Our panelists talk about their own experiences, challenges, works and the profession of a "comic translator", among others.
© alemol
André Höchemer, also known under his brand “Alemol”, comes from a small village in Hesse, but has lived in Valencia, Spain, for over twenty years. He works mainly as a freelance translator and interpreter and has been translating comics and graphic novels since 2011, including award-winning works such as “Die Kunst zufliegen” by Antonio Altarriba and Kim and "Kopf in den Wolken" by Paco Roca, but also others by renowned authors such as Max, Nadar, Álvaro Ortiz, Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Hugo Pratt, Gabi Beltrán, Bartolomé Seguí, Miguelanxo Prado and others. For some years now he has also been translating the new adventures of “Clever & Smart”. Occasionally he gives lectures on comic translation and runs a bilingual blog called “Tagebuch eines Alemols” (“Diario de un alemol”).
Dr. Swati Acharya
Dr. Swati Acharya has been working in the German studies department since 1998. She has been an "Associate Professor" since 2018 and has headed the department since 2019. In 2002 she did her doctorate at the JNU, New Delhi on the subject of "Film as Text: Alterity and the Colonial Discourse in Werner's Films Herzog with Prof. Anil Bhatti. Amongst other accolades following are the highlights: Multiple research stays in Germany as a DAAD scholarship holder and 2015-18 with a research grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Tübingen and FU, Berlin.
Numerous publications on research topics: gender in literature, post- colonial literature, migration in film and literature, representation of India in German-language
literature, film didactics. Several projects on multilingualism in India.
Dr. Verena Maser
Dr. Verena Maser, PhD, lives and works in Nuremberg, Germany. She majored in Japanese Studies and Sociology at universities in Erlangen (Germany), Tokyo, and Trier (Germany). Her PhD thesis covers the topic of love between girls in Japanese popular culture. Since 2014, she works as a freelance translator for Japanese to German, and specializes in manga (comics) and anime (cartoons).
© Birgit Maria Pfaffinger
Anja Kootz was born and raised in Northern Germany. She received her university education from Humboldt University Berlin and New York University and spent several years living in Paris/France. Today, she works as a literary translator, translating from French, English and Italien to German. She also works as a photographer and her ongoing project „Plainly Visible – Photographs of Translators“ portrays translators from all around the world.
© Katharina Erben
Katharina Erben, MA in Comparative Literature, Scandinavian and English Studies, has been living in Berlin since the turn of the century. She translates comics for the publishing houses avant and Klett, for example the bestselling graphic novels by Liv Strömquist. She also guides art talks and workshops at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, designs exhibitions for the design agency gewerkdesign, and works as a cultural officer for the Swedish Embassy.
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