From November 17-20, 2004, the Third International Spanish Language Conference (III Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española) will gather top scholars, experts and language professionals in the Spanish-speaking world. “Language Identity and Globalization” is the motto adopted by this new forum, which will focus on the issues and challenges posed to and by the Spanish language. The busy Argentinean city of Rosario will host the event, and the main activities of the conference will be held at the Centro Cultural Parque de España. Among the guest participants who have already confirmed are distinguished writers such as Ernesto Sábato, Carlos Fuentes, Héctor Tizón, Mario Benedetti, Juan José Saer and José Saramago (winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize of Literature).

The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) is the institution in charge of the organization and schedule of the Spanish Language Congress, which is celebrated every three years. The Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (Association of Spanish Language Academies) and, in this particular case, the Academia Argentina de Letras (Argentinean Academy of Literature) are also involved in the coordination of the event. The Instituto Cervantes (Cervantes Institute) is in charge of the General Secretariat.

The Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, which includes the 7,000 most frequently asked questions regarding Spanish language usage and a popular edition commemorating the Fourth Centennial of El Quijote are some of the works by the Academia and the Instituto Cervantes that will be presented at the conference. General sessions will deal with the cultural and political issues involved in the notion of linguistic identity, the role of language and language identity in literary creative works, international Spanish and the internationalization of Spanish. Special roundtables will tackle the teaching of Spanish, the Iberian-American niche of the book industry and the role played by mass media in the creation of the Iberian-American culture.

All submitted papers will be available at the Conference website at http://www.congresodelalengua3.ar and at the Instituto Cervantes website at http://www.cervantes.es.

Together with the Conference, the Jornada Internacional para Traductores (International Translators’ Meeting) will take place during the same week in the city of Rosario. A packed one-day round of discussion sessions on the issue of “Language Identity and Globalization,” the meeting will focus on requirements and challenges for today’s Spanish language translators.

Dr. Alicia Zorrilla (Argentina), Dr. Fernando Navarro (Spain), Dr. Rodolfo Alpízar (Cuba) and translators Xosé Castro Roig (Spain) and Alicia Agnese (USA) have been appointed as speakers at the general sessions, whereas Renato Beninatto (Brazil) and Antonio Molero (Germany) will host roundtables on issues related to the impact of globalization on translation from a linguistic point of view.

The Jornada Internacional de Traducción Rosario 2004 will take place at the Ariston Hotel Convention Center on November 21, 2004. It is organized by UCEL – Universidad del Centro Educativo Latinoamericano - and by Rosario Traducciones y Servicios.

For further information, please visit the Jornada’s webpage at http://www.ucel.edu.ar/traduccion

For information on travel accommodation and arrangements, please visit the following websites:

http://www.rosarioturismo.com
http://www.rosario.gov.ar
http://www.aristonhotel.com.ar

María Gabriela Morales is the founder of Rosario Traducciones y Servicios, an innovative translation and localization company based in Rosario, Argentina, that specializes in Latin American languages. In 1995, Morales opened the Argentinean branch of Lazoski, Beninatto & Associados — the first translation company in the region. After that, she managed the South American Spanish operations of LMI and Berlitz in Argentina and Chile. The author has a degree in both English into Spanish translation and French into Spanish translation. Oh yes, she definitely loves Brazil!