Philosophy

Biography

Kenn Nakata Steffensen was born in Denmark and grew up in India, Japan, Kenya and Denmark.  He studied politics and anthropology at the University of Copenhagen and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has taught at Roehampton, Nottingham and Winchester universities and worked as a translator and subtitler. His main research interest is in the political thought of the Kyoto School philosopher Miki Kiyoshi.

Education

• BA, Political Studies/Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, 1994
• M.Sc. (Econ.) International Politics, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1995

Employment

• Visiting lecturer, Japanese audiovisual translation, Roehampton University, 2010
• Part-time lecturer, International relations, University of Nottingham, 1997-1998
• Part-time lecturer, Japanese politics, Winchester University, 1997-1999
• Freelance translator and subtitler 1995-

Languages
English, Danish, Japanese, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, French

Research interests

• Political thought in modern Japan (specifically Miki Kiyoshi and the left wing of the Kyoto School)
• Translation studies (specifically translations of philosophy, political and epistemological aspects of audiovisual and textual translation between English, Japanese and Danish, politics and sociology of translation)
• Ethnicity, nationalism, citizenship, imperialism and liberalism in the Danish Empire
• International relations (international relations theory, Japanese international relations discourse, Danish policy and discourse in/on the North Atlantic, language and culture in international relations)
• Political theory

Publications

• “BBC English with an accent: 'African' and 'Asian' accents in British broadcasting” forthcoming in Diaz Cintas, Jorge & Aline Remael (eds.) Ideology and manipulation in audiovisual translation. Thematic issue of Meta: Journal of Translation, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2011.
• “Denmark’s invisible empire: The politics of translating the Danish constitutional order”. in Epstein, Brett J. (ed.) Northern lights: Translation in the Nordic countries. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2009
• “Freelancers and the crisis in British subtitling.” ITI Bulletin May 2007 (Based on papers presented at Edinburgh International Film Festival, University of Surrey Centre for Translation Studies and Media For All conference. Expanded and revised version forthcoming in Journal of Specialised Translation)
• “Lost in translation”, Stage, Screen & Radio, March 2007
• Review of Erik Ringmar, The mechanics of modernity in Europe and East Asia: Institutional origins of social change and stagnation. Millennium: Review of International Studies, 36:1, 2008.
• “The Kyoto School, imperialism and post-white power”. Review article on David Williams, Defending Japan‘s Pacific War: The Kyoto School philosophers and post-white power. in IIAS Newsletter, No. 1, 2006. Leiden: International Institute for Asian Studies.
• Review of Laura Hein, Reasonable men, powerful words: Political culture and expertise in twentieth-century Japan. in Millennium: Review of International Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2006.
• *The battle for the Congo: The assassination of Laurent Desiré Kabila and the evolving Congo Crisis. Special issue COPE Newsletter. (Consortium on Political Emergencies) Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development: London, January 2001.
• “Post-cold war transformations of Japan’s international identity: Implications for regional ideological influence.” Chapter 6 in Söderberg, Marie & Ian Reader (eds.) Japanese influences and presences in Asia. Routledge: London, 1999
• *“Peripheral concepts of world order in the age of high imperialism: Spanish, Japanese and US discourses of international politics and identity”, pp. 187-196 in Miguel Luque Talaván, Juan José Pacheco Onrubia, Fernando Palanco (eds.) 1898, España y el Pacífico: interpretación del pasado, realidad del presente. Madrid: Asociación Española de Estudios del Pacífico,1999

* Co-authored with Mercedes Lopez y Invarato.