In Memoriam Denise Merkle 1954-2024

Dear Denise, I am writing a letter because it is still too soon for me to speak of you in the third person. And I am writing it in English, because that is the language we used. Unbeknownst to all but your family and closest friends, with the discretion you wished for, you passed away on August 14^th, far too early, leaving us with a deep sense of sorrow and loss, but also with gratitude for the immense privilege of having known you as a student, a colleague, a collaborator, a friend. The outpouring of condolences from Canada and abroad is a touching testimony to the profound impact you have had as an internationally renown translation studies scholar, specifically—but far from exclusively—for your work on translation and censorship, minority languages, cultural diversity, the translating subject, official language policies, and, more recently, non-Western approaches to translation, as well as intersemiotic transfers between music and choreography. I once asked you (in admiration): Denise, how on earth have you found the energy and time to research all these fields so fully? To which you replied in all modesty: I am a curious person. Yes, enormous intellectual curiosity, and so much more. As a colleague and teacher, your belief in and, when necessary, outspokenness on the importance of Canadian translation studies together with the promotion of translation/interpretation programs nation-wide, have been inspirational. Your dedication to the discipline and the practice has manifested itself in a number of ways: President of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies from 2002-2004¸ you were a pillar of TTR’s editorial board from 2010 onward and the journal’s book review editor; active member of the Canadian Association of Schools of Translation; chair of the Université de Moncton’s Département de traduction et des langues, where you taught a wide range of courses including French-English translation, comparative stylistics, terminology, and the theory of translation; last but certainly not least, tireless advocate for official bilingualism as a political and economic safeguard against the steady decline of French in Canada. Yet there is still more: your generosity, openness, warmth, genuine interest in others, passion for knowledge, and never-to-be-forgotten contagious laugh that kept us all going during the more stressful moments, were just as inspirational. Indeed, the international conferences you organised were unparalleled, close to legendary in the Canadian context as I look back on them now, thanks at once to their thematic timeliness, your impeccable hosting duties, and your extraordinary attention to detail—which included, when seasonal and as an additional perk, a New Brunsick fresh lobster buffet. To this must be added your unwavering commitment to support the next generation of translation studies scholars by encouraging student participation in these and other academic activities. As Faiza El Qasem so aptly noted in her recent tribute, published in Alternative francophone (2024, vol. 3, n^o 5), you had a gift for finding “les mots qu’il fallait pour encourager les uns et les autres, et [tu savais] trouver la pépite qui sommeillait en chacun de nous.” The outpouring of condolences for your death is commensurate with the significance of your legacy, which includes not only some 60 publications and co-directions that brought international recognition to your research, but also the Routledge Handbook of Translation and Censorship you finished co-editing, with Brian Baer, just days before you received your diagnostic at the end of May. As managing editor of TTR, I am very proud to contribute to your legacy by dedicating to your memory the non-thematic section of this present issue, introduced by Chantal Gagnon, as well as the entire thematic issue …