Studiegids

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Literary Translation 1: The familiar and the foreign

Vak
2024-2025

Admission requirements

This course is open only to students registered for the Translation in Theory and Practice specialization.

Description

According to Anthony Burgess "literature cannot be translated, only the appearance of literature, the arrangement on a page of words which do a minimal job, that of describing action, feelings, and dialogue of a fairly easily translatable kind." Will we be able to prove him wrong?

In this course, we will try our hand at the translation of two types of prose: short stories and novels. We will be casting our net as widely as possible: while the short stories will range from the late nineteenth to the twenty-first century, the novels will be from different parts of the English-speaking world. The novels that we will be translating feature a great deal of dialogue and a combination of ‘the familiar and the foreign’, allowing us to explore the translation of different registers, including dialects, sociolects and idiolects.

Students are required to prepare a translation and stylistic analysis for discussion in tutorial. Each week, two or three students will be assigned the role of discussion leader for that week.

Course objectives

  • Ability to research background information required to translate literary texts (author information, literary genres, stylistic devices)

  • Skill in translating literary texts from English into Dutch.

  • Analyzing and reflecting on literary machine translations

  • Ability to apply one’s knowledge and understanding of stylistics in translating a literary text.

  • Ability to apply one’s knowledge of translation theories in translating literary texts.

  • Ability to reflect on your own translation decisions and how these may affect reader perceptions and may contribute to current debates in society

  • The Literary Translation specialization of the MA Translation endorses the Framework for Literary Translation (PETRA-E Framework) and enables its students to develop their literary translation competences at the following levels:
    Transfer competence: LT4 Advanced professional
    Language competence: LT4 Advanced professional
    Textual competence: LT3 Early career professional
    Heuristic competence: LT3 Early career professional
    Literary-cultural competence: LT3 Early career professional
    Professional competence: LT2 Advanced learner
    Evaluative competence: LT2 Advanced learner
    Research competence: LT3 Early career professional

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

  • Seminars

Assessment method

Assessment

Average mark of two submitted annotated translations with source text and target text analyses (mid-term and end-of-term) (100%)

Resit

There are resits for the mid-term and end-of-term translation assignments. Marks for the annotated translations need to be at least 6.0. Students can resit a course component if the mark for the component is a fail.

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 have to be organized.

Reading list

Reading materials to be made available on Brightspace

  • Reading materials

  • Announcements

Registration

Enrolment through My Studymap is mandatory
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.

### Contact

For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar

For questions related to the content of the course, please contact the lecturer, you can find their contact information by clicking on their name in the sidebar.

For questions regarding enrollment please contact the Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats

For questions regarding your studyprogress contact the Coordinator of Studies

Remarks