Admission requirements
Students should be sufficiently proficient in English and Dutch. This course is part of the minor Translation and cannot be taken separately.
Description
Why do Albanians have 27 different words for moustache? Why is there no word for “understatement” in the Dutch language? Whatever the answer to these questions may be, it can surely not be denied that language is inextricably bound up with culture. There are countless examples of concepts in one language that simply do not exist in the other, such as the British phenomenon of “opting-out schools”, or concepts that have no exact equivalent in other languages, like the Dutch word “notaris”, or the American word “ranger”. The above are just a few examples to illustrate the problems a translator has to tackle every day. In order to be able to produce correct and readable translations, a translator must have a comprehensive knowledge not only of the source and target languages themselves, but also of the cultures of both the source and target language. In this course, you will not only learn many things about the United Kingdom and the United States, but you will also learn how to apply your knowledge about the cultures of the Netherlands, the UK and the US to translation problems that may result from cultural differences between these countries.
Course objectives
Students will have the ability to conduct their own research to acquire knowledge of American, British and Dutch culture and society
Students will be able to reflect on differences between source and target cultures and the implication of these differences for translation
Students will be able to apply their acquired knowledge of American, British and Dutch culture and society to their translations from Dutch into English and vice versa
Students will be able to explain translation choices that involve culture specific references
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Assessment method
Assessment
Two take home assignments
Weighing
Assignment 1: 30%
Assignment 2: 70%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
If the final grade is below 6, students have to do a resit. The resit will consist of a take home assignment (100%).
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.
Reading list
Mandatory reading
- Course materials made available on Brightspace
Recommended reading
Oakland, John. American Civilization. New York: Routledge. (latest edition)
Oakland, John. British Civilization. London: Routledge. (latest edition)
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about MyStudyMap is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
Routledge, the publisher of American Civilization and British Civilization, regularly publishes new editions. You are recommended to buy the latest edition available.