Public lecture by Xany Jansen van Vuuren on how animal welfare work functions as interspecies translation

On 1 October 2025 at 10:15, the Department of Semiotics of the University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, room 306, will host a public lecture by Senior Lecturer and ecosemiotician Xany Jansen van Vuuren from South Africa. Jansen van Vuuren will discuss how animal welfare work functions as interspecies translation. Special attention will be given to equine-based welfare work in South Africa.

„Introducing interspecies translation: horses, humans, and animal welfare“

Abstract

In the Global South, Animals regularly form part of daily human life: as transport, in hunting, as protection, as herders, as livestock in subsistence farming, and also as companions. Such close human/animal interactions often influence the welfare of animals and humans alike, and as such animal welfare organisations often step in to provide various forms of support for animals and humans as well as mediating between the aforementioned parties. With reference to developments in the fields of Translation Studies this talk attempts to provide an introduction to the ways in which animal welfare work functions as interspecies translation. In particular it will explore the ways in which interspecies translation occurs during equine-based welfare work in South Africa.

Bio

Xany Jansen van Vuuren obtained her Ph.D. from the University of the Free State, South Africa, in 2022, where she is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice. She teaches interpreting and translation on undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises postgraduate students in translation, interpreting, multimodality and semiotics.

Regarding research, her areas of focus include ecosemiotics, eco-translation, knowledge translation, translation and activism, photography as translation, and interspecies translation and interpreting. Her current research projects include explorations into interspecies translation as well as the role of translation in animal advocacy, which her recent publications also address. Her monograph, titled “Interpreting, communication and animal welfare: An ecosemiotic analysis of interspecies translation” with De Gruyter Mouton, was published in August 2025.