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The Knights Templar are famous for their involvement in the Medieval crusades but the myths surrounding them and popular representations, as seen in The Da Vinci Code, have created an inaccurate view of the Templars' historical significance. Nicholson's research on (a) the Templars and their estates, (b) her collaborations with museum and heritage organizations, and (c) her advice on Templar properties, has challenged misconceptions about the Templars and informed professional practice in presenting heritage sites, benefiting individuals, authors, archaeologists and museum practitioners. Her research has equipped non-academic audiences with a clearer understanding of the Templars, generating new interpretations and cultural artefacts by diverse groups worldwide.
As scholars and translators, Susan Bassnett, Maureen Freely, Michael Hulse and Tony Howard have driven translation theory and practice, and introduced new authors and new cultures to Anglophone readers. Their translations have provided economic benefits to authors and to independent publishing houses specialising in translation. Bassnett's and Freely's work with professional translation organisations has informed the development of professional translators, resulting in greater professionalization and increased public recognition.
The journal and books disseminate our high quality research in an accessible form that deepens public understanding of Celtic Studies, shapes HE curricula worldwide, contributes to cultural life and informs public debate. The journal has been ranked as one of the two most internationally influential in the field of Celtic literature.
Building on their groundbreaking research and collaborative networks, Babych and Sharoff have developed a range of language technologies which now reach major corporations, small specialist businesses, a large industrial consortium, and agencies of the EU and UN. Their translation tools have had significant industrial impact by improving efficiency, consistency and user experience, and leveraging existing data collections for new purposes. In terms of policy, the research has re-shaped attitudes toward the ownership of data by demonstrating the commercial value of pooling resources. Individual translators have also benefitted from these technologies and related CPD courses, helping them to improve document flow, terminology and translation activities.
In his 2004 and 2010 Oxford University Press translations of the Qur'an, based on over 30 years of rigorous scholarship, Professor Muhammad Abdel Haleem sought to make, "the Qur'an accessible to everyone who speaks English". Numerous accolades, including membership of the Arabic language Academy in Cairo, approval of his 2010 translation by Al-Azhar University, sales of 250,000+ copies and his receipt of hundreds of laudatory messages from readers around the world attest to both the faithfulness of his translation and its accessibility to a wide readership. Abdel Haleem has contributed substantially to interfaith understanding through his translations and interpretations and assisted interfaith dialogue globally.
The present case study describes the impact of research at the University of East Anglia (UEA) on the practice, publishing and public understanding of literary translation. W.G. Sebald founded the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) at UEA in 1989 to promote and encourage the translation of literary works, to support practising translators and to foster the study of translated literature. BCLT is a thriving international public cultural institute whose ethos and programme are shaped and informed by researchers working between the Centre and its academic home, the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing (LDC). Via workshops, publishing initiatives and a range of local, national and international events, the work of these researchers has had a significant impact on the public perception and understanding of literature in translation, and on the market for this literature within the UK and beyond.
Political events across Arab nations focus the attention of stakeholders in government and business, including publishing, on the imperative of culturally sensitive translations from Arabic. Increasing interest in Arabic literature necessitates professional-ethical standards in translating. Research-informed translations at University of Edinburgh by Marilyn Booth and research-based translator training supports development of more sensitive translations, thus aiding a granular understanding of socio-cultural complexity in Arab societies amid dynamic political change. Such translation activities refute `clash of civilisations' discourses and stereotyping of Arabs and Islam. The research and resulting training methods impact practice and enhance support for emerging UK and Arab-region translators, approximately 80 to date.
This case study describes the impact generated by new thinking on the representation of the foreign in translation for the theatre. The main beneficiaries of the research are theatre audiences across the English-speaking world, as well as theatres, theatre companies and publishing houses. As a result of the project's insights into localisation and performability, theatre audiences have benefited from intellectual and imaginative engagement with a more authentic and lucid interpretation of Hispanic theatre and culture that challenges their own cultural values. The work has also contributed to the creative economy through the generation of income from the stage productions and the publication of translations.
Rees Davies (1938-2005) was one of the most significant British medieval historians of the post-war period, the most distinguished historian of medieval Wales, and a leading figure in the movement for British (as opposed to English) history as a staple of undergraduate teaching. While his vision of medieval Wales and Britain evolved over a forty-year career in universities and public service, it entered a distinctive phase in its final decade, when Davies wrote the definitive study of the revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr and coined the notion of `the first English Empire'. The research of these years, when Davies was Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford, has had a lasting impact on the public understanding of history in Wales, on the management and presentation of Welsh heritage, and on the teaching of undergraduate history across the British Isles.
The principal, interrelated forms of impact claimed for these two new editions/translations are educational and economic.
The educational impact derives from:
The economic impact (totalling £200,328 to date) has been generated by high annual sales (so far 24,204 copies of Nietzsche and 9,866 copies of Weber sold), with £67,279 generated between 2008 and 2012. These sales figures reflect the widespread adoption of the texts on educational courses across a range of disciplines and in many different countries.
The new versions of Weber's foundational political essays also "enhance public understanding" of key issues in "civil society". The new version of "The Birth of Tragedy" has presented a key part of the "cultural capital" of Europe to a wider international readership.