Power - Language - Politics 1. Arab States, China, Iran, Latin America

Is translation political? Readers' expectations of literature from countries that are perceived as peripheral, although they are neither linguistically nor geographically so, are often based on exoticisms that represent a continuation of the colonialist gaze. How can translation work against this perception?
And how do translators position themselves in the conflict of translating literatures that are subject to (self-)censorship in their home countries on the one hand and the desire to see the literature they translate on the other hand read and reviewed by literary rather than political standards? Do political structures strain the relationship between translators and their authors? Should we only translate writers in exile?
These and other exciting questions will be addressed in our panel discussion with four translators who bring a wide range of translated languages to the table.