Translating Burgess / Burgess Translating

We are pleased to invite applications for a funded PhD studentship, which will focus on translations of Burgess’s novels, and the work of Anthony and Liana Burgess as literary translators. The successful candidate will be jointly supervised by University of Manchester and the International Anthony Burgess Foundation. The deadline for applications is 28 February 2025.

The doctoral project, titled ‘Translating Burgess / Burgess Translating’, will examine the roles played by translation, interlingual exchanges and global publishing in the creative work of Anthony Burgess during his lifetime, and how these have shaped his international reputation since 1993.

Throughout his life, Burgess sustained an interest in modern languages, published literary translations and collaborative translations (with Liana Burgess), and exchanged correspondence with his translators and publishers, both in English and in other (sometimes invented) languages. At the same time, his writing has entered global circulation through translations and adaptations into multiple languages across the world — with Malay, Chinese and Turkish being among the most recent.

Combining critical approaches from translation studies, world literature, modern languages, and English studies, the project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Burgess Foundation, whose unique archive holds extensive and previously unexamined translation-related materials. The doctoral student will conduct archival research into correspondence between the author and his translators, publishers, and literary agents.

The doctoral project will be hosted at the Centre of Translation and Intercultural Studies at the University of Manchester, which is part of the multilingual and interdisciplinary department of Modern Languages and Cultures, enabling significant flexibility regarding the candidate’s language profile and disciplinary background, and offering space for the student to co-shape their doctoral project in a preferred direction.

Besides improving their archival and research skills, the doctoral student will participate in the ongoing project of creating an in-situ multilingual exhibition dedicated to the global reception of Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange in translation. Co-curated by Dr Kasia Szymanska and the Anthony Burgess Foundation, the exhibition aims to engage the city of Manchester’s multilingual reading communities to respond to the cosmopolitan potential of Burgess’s best-known novel through translations, multilingual recordings, and performances.

The knowledge of at least one language other than English is essential for this application. Previous qualifications and degrees might include Modern Languages, English Studies, Comparative Literature, World Literature, Translation Studies, Intercultural Studies, or any other related areas.

Further details of this PhD funding opportunity are available here.

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