Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Rita Wilson is Professor of Translation Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics and Founding Director of the Monash Intercultural Lab.
Before joining Monash University in 2005, I taught at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and the University of Melbourne.
I have long-standing research interests in women’s writing, translation studies and transcultural narrative practices. My current research sits at the interface of migrant cultural studies, translation and intercultural studies. Focusing on the complexities of cultural contact, I investigate the relationship between language, place, mobility and the construction of cultural identities. My work contributes to a growing strand of research in Translation Studies that explores the connection between translation and migration. The marked visibility of migration phenomena in the contemporary world has led to increased attention to the centrality of language and (self-)translation when discussing topics such as citizenship; social inclusion and exclusion; the representation of individual and collective cultural identities; the dynamic process of settlement. My recent publications relate to various aspects of identity and culture in migratory contexts, including cultural mediation, intercultural competence and transcultural creative practices.
With Loredana Polezzi (Stony Brook University) I am co-editor of The Translator, a leading international journal in Translation Studies.
Supervision interests
Since joining Monash, my supervisory expertise and research areas have attracted enquiries from a wide range of potential PhD candidates and, to date, I have successfully supervised over 40 postgraduate students to completion across two disciplinary areas: Italian Studies and Translation Studies.
In 2015, I was the winner of Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research Supervision, Faculty of Arts.
My current supervision interests include:
- Translation, Migration and Social Inclusion; Self-Translation; Literary Translation; Cultural Identities; Intercultural Studies
- Contemporary Italian Literature and Culture
- Women's writing
Recently completed PhD theses include
- Tuning In to Characters: Translating Monica Ojeda's La desfiguracion Silva
- Comrade M: Re-narrating the Red Brigades in Translation
- The Transmigration and Popular Reception of Mulan in the Anglophone World
- Exploring the Reception of Transcreation in Game Localisation between English and Chinese: Contingency Plan or Icing on the Cake?
- Translators at a crossroads: Working into and out of the first language
- Afroitalian Hip Hop: Negotiating and building new transcultural Italian belongings
- Re-imagining the Italian South: Subjectivity and Migration in Contemporary Literature and Cinema
- Reading literature of the Vietnamese diaspora in translation: a 'transdiasporic' approach
- The Effects of Translation on Performance: Translating Rhythm and Gesture in Two Plays by David Mence
- A Grammar of God: Translation, Grammar and Memory in the Arte y reglas de la lengua tagala (1610)
- Translation in Japanese museums: a study of multimodal linguistic landscape
- Revelation and Equivalence: A Methodology for the Translation of Sacred-Texts; as applied to the Tiqqunim of the Zohar
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Cultural Identity
- Migration
- Intercultural Understanding
- Transcultural studies
- Self-Translation
- Transnational Literature
- Women's Writing
- Translation Studies
- Social Inclusion
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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GSCC: Translator and Interpreter Training Package for Greater Shepparton City Council
Gerber, L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Wilson, R. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Tobias, S. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Avella Archila, A. (Project Manager)
28/02/25 → 30/06/25
Project: Consultancy
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Social Cohesion, Racism and a Framework for Australia
Arunachalam, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Hancocks, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wilson, R. (Supervisor), Fozdar, F. (Supervisor) & Hood, S. (Supervisor)
Department of Education (Australia)
25/02/25 → 25/11/28
Project: Research
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BPG: Best Practice Guidelines for Co-designing Community Translations
Gerber, L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Avella Archila, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Wilson, R. (Chief Investigator (CI))
3/06/24 → 27/12/24
Project: Research
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Review of Caritas Australia's Translation and Interpretation processes
Wilson, R. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Angelucci, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Avella Archila, A. (Project Manager)
Australian Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church (trading as Caritas Australia)
27/06/23 → 30/12/23
Project: Research
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Action Grants: Deployment of Grant clinics and Grantee Communities at Scale for Fairer Victoria (Vic Govt.)
Varghese, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Olivier, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wilson, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Bartindale, T. (Chief Investigator (CI))
27/06/22 → 31/12/22
Project: Consultancy
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Redefining information accessibility in crisis translation: communicating COVID-19 resources to culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia
Qi, L. & Wilson, R., 2024, The Routledge Handbook of Translation, Interpreting and Crisis . Declercq, C. & Kerremans, K. (eds.). 1st ed. Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 31-44 14 p. (Routledge Handbooks In Translation and Interpreting Studies).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration
Maher, B. (Editor), Polezzi, L. (Editor) & Wilson, R. (Editor), 2024, Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge. 490 p. (Routledge Handbooks in Translation and Interpreting Studies)Research output: Book/Report › Edited Book › peer-review
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Towards building networks of solidarity: a co-designed training model for nonprofessional interpreters and translators in regional Australia
Angelucci, M. & Wilson, R., 30 Jul 2024, In: Translation and Interpreting. 16, 2, p. 54-71 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Youth in the city: Fostering transcultural leadership for social change
Dutto, M., Ricatti, F., Simeone, L. & Wilson, R., 2024, Cultural Change in Post-Migrant Societies : Re-Imagining Communities Through Arts and Cultural Activities. Sievers, W. (ed.). Cham Switzerland: Springer, p. 237-258 21 p. (IMISCOE Research Series).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Sites of translation in Melbourne
Wilson, R., 2021, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City. Lee, T. K. (ed.). 1st ed. Abingdon UK: Routledge, p. 349-363 15 p. (Routledge Handbooks in Translation and Interpreting Studies).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Faculty of Arts Dean's Award for Research Impact.
Wilson, R. (Recipient), Orlando, M. (Recipient) & Hlavac, J. (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Other distinction
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Faculty of Arts Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research Supervision
Wilson, R. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Other distinction
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VICTORIA’S MULTICULTURAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE
Wilson, R. (Recipient) & Tobias, S. L. (Recipient), 2010
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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UCL / SOAS Global Translation Lectures
Wilson, R. (Invited speaker)
8 Jun 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
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Institute of Modern Languages Research Seminars
Wilson, R. (Invited speaker)
7 May 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
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Modern Italy (Journal)
Wilson, R. (Guest editor) & Maher, B. (Guest editor)
May 2020Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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Centre for Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London
Wilson, R. (Advisor)
2020 → …Activity: External Academic Engagement › External research organisation, centre or institute
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Academic Review of Cultures and Languages
Wilson, R. (Reviewer)
16 Oct 2019 → 19 Oct 2019Activity: External Academic Engagement › Peer review panel or committee
Press/Media
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Volunteer translators and interpreters play a vital role in Shepparton but union says there are significant risks
Angelucci, M., Varghese, D., Wilson, R. & Bartindale, T.
28/11/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Language has become a tool for social exclusion
Polezzi, L., Angouri, J. & Wilson, R.
21/02/19
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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I giovani italo-australiani ispirano fiducia [Il Globo]
Wilson, R. & Ricatti, F.
20/12/18
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Blogs, Podcasts and Social Media › Blogs
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Language, citizenship and inclusion: exploding the 'monolingual myth'
Wilson, R., Angouri, J. & Polezzi, L.
20/11/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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“Diaspore italiane”: A four-day exploration of Italian identity
12/04/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment