Jonathan Baillehache [by·a·ash] was born on the coast of Normandy. After studying French, comparative literature as well as psychoanalysis at Montpellier III université, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Paris VIII université, and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, where he completed his dissertation on the translation of Russian poetry, he joined UGA in 2013. His interest in the human and literary experiences of translation is driven by the belief that our native language, in its encounter with linguistic difference, allows us to express ourselves beyond our most familiar ideas, and that doing such brings intellectual and emotional relief from the exertion imposed on us by our native culture.
In his research, he explores how translators as well as creators of digital remediations work to repair the inherent violence of translation by opening up literary works to new interpretations capable of illuminating their most historically obscured possibilities.
He teaches translation theory, twentieth century French and Francophone literature, French rap music, and French video game history, and specializes in online pedagogy.
Research
Jonathan Baillehache's research focuses on the ethics of literary translation in the context of literary modernity, Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, and post-colonial politics.
In his recent book, La Traduction de la lettre. Éthique, désir et littéralité dans la pensée d’Antoine Berman et dans l’œuvre traductive de certains poètes modernes (to be published at Presses universitaires de Rennes), he researched the ways Antoine Berman's theory of translation ethics, in its dialogue with Lacanian theory, can be used to read the translation practice of François-René de Chateaubriand, Ezra Pound, Jacques Roubaud and Louis Zukofsky.
Another focus of his research are digital humanities and online pedagogy. Apart from developing online courses for UGA since 2013, he has published articles and presented on electronic literature (works of literature created in the context of or for computers) and digital archiving, and co-founded the Digital Arts Library at UGA, a collection of electronic literature and video games.
Selected Publications
La Traduction de la lettre. Éthique, désir et littéralité dans la pensée d’Antoine Berman et dans l’œuvre traductive de certains poètes modernes, to be published at Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
“Remédiatiser la lettre des Nouvelles Impressions d’Afrique”. Cuadernos de Filologìa Francesa, 28. Universidad de Extremadura, 2017. 137-152.
“Dossier Outranspo”, a sample of translation theory and examples, co-authored with the collective Outranspo. Drunken Boat, 24. 2017. Web. n. pag.
“Translating constrained literature: Translation or transposition?”. MLN French Issue 131:4. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. 892-904.
“The Remediation of Russian Avant-Garde Poetry”. Translating E-Literature = Traduire la littérature numérique. Université Paris 8, 2015. Web. n. pag.
“Chance Operations and Randomizers in Avant-Garde and Electronic Poetry”. Textual Cultures 8:1. Indiana University Press, 2014. Web. 42-60.
“Le Passage en ligne de la lettre”. La Lettre Mensuelle, Revue des ACF et de CPCT, 319. L’Ecole de la Cause Freudienne, 2013. 22-24.
“L’Oulipo et la traduction moderniste”. Formules, 16. Presses Universitaires du Nouveau Monde, 2012. 279-290.