A testimonial about the CETRA Summer School by Lars Liljegren (Linköping University)

Lars Liljegren, Senior Lecturer, Linköping University, Sweden

Lars is a CETRA alumnus of 2014. He defended his PhD thesis entitled “The Taming of a Viking: August Strindberg, Translation and Post-Victorian Censorship” in November 2018, at Linköping University.

“Having worked at Linköping University as a Junior Lecturer of English since 1999, I was fortunate to be able to start my PhD studies for real, as part of my work description, in 2011. Studying and teaching at the same time is demanding, but it means that one can pursue one’s studies for a longer period of time, which is an advantage in itself.
I attended the CETRA summer school in 2014, and was fortunate to make many new friends among my fellow PhD students. For me, the CETRA summer school was a complete game changer. After the first week with CETRA, having spent four years studying the field from the outside trying to grasp concepts and theories, I already felt I was now part of the inside, part of the discipline. This new, and slightly surprising, sensation made all the difference. The opportunity to be able to listen to some of the most prominent researchers in the field while also being able to meet several of them in person to discuss one’s project was truly helpful. The CETRA staff were so engaged and so eager to help that one felt at home right away. Although they all deserve a lot of credit, I would personally like to mention the help I got from Peter Flynn, Dirk Delabastita, Reine Meylaerts, Andrew Chesterman and Sara Ramos Pinto. I think “wow!” sums it up rather well, for the lack of better words.

At my mock dissertation, about a year before the completion of my thesis, Reine Meylaerts came to Linköping as my opponent, and in November 2018, Dirk Delabastita was the opponent when the thesis was to be officially defended. The feedback I got from both and the discussions we had were very useful, and their approach would serve as a template for how to professionally conduct a constructive opposition where both mind and heart are combined. I am forever in their debt for the time and effort they made on my behalf.

I believe that what is partly the strength of CETRA is that PhD students are always made to feel welcome in the discipline. It is obvious that the CETRA staff enjoy helping and shaping their future colleagues, because that is how students are regarded there: not as students, but as future colleagues. Thus, I would recommend anyone thinking of applying to the CETRA summer school to do so without hesitation. You will be in the best of hands.”

Lars submitted his testimonial in December 2018. Here, you can read more testimonials by alumni of our Research Summer School in Translation Studies.