RUSS/INTL 265: TRANSLATION AS CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Fall 2008, M-W-F 10:50-11:50, H212
Gitta Hammarberg

SCHEDULE
(Will be adjusted as need arises during the semester--it's up to you to keep current)

CODE:
RES=hard copy on reserve in the library--ask by course number and instructor's name.
E-RES= electronic reserve at the library, linked to our page
TL=Lefevre, André, Translating Literature. . .
TSR = Venuti, Lawrence, Translation Studies Reader

IN CLASS: HOMEWORK FOR NEXT CLASS:

Wed 8/27
Introduction to translation studies.
get aquainted, class organization, and explanations of our web page.
Warm-up topics sampler: ad hoc student commentary on a poem, a conversation, and statements authors have made about mistranslation (and its consequences), translations vs originals, and translations of books to film--handout.

For Fri 8/29
Read:
* Susan Sontag, "The World as India," TLS 6/13, 2003, E-RES
* Eco, Umberto, "A Rose by Any Other Name," The Washington Post 1/16-94, (handout)

Start looking for: a short piece of prose fiction and a poem in your second language and bring them to class on Friday. You'll then be working on these translation during the semester, starting as soon as possible, to result in projects 2 and 3 (drafts; due Wed 9/17 and Mon 9/22) and project 7 (due Wed 11/19)
Start looking for Alice in Wonderland translated into your second language. We'll translate a passage back into English--at the very end of semester--and compare the different renditions (Writing project 8, due Wed 11/26).

Fri 8/29
We discuss the facets of translation Sontag and Eco present.

For Wed 9/3
Read:
* TL: 1-14
* Hofstadter, Douglas, Le Ton beau de Marot, Ch 1 (including Poems I),
E-RES, RES
Writing project 1(due Mon 9/8): Choose one translation of the get-well poem by Marot in Hofstadter (hard copy RES) from any chapter after the first. Write your own evaluation of the poem: what stylistic goals has the translator chosen to pursue? How successful is s/he? (about 1-2 typed pages using font size 12 and double spacing--use this format for all written projects, please).
Mon 9/1 LABOR DAY HOLIDAY--NO CLASS
Wed 9/3
Practical issues in translation
Discussion of TL and Hofstadter

For Fri 9/5
Read:
 *Venuti, Lawrence, "Introduction," to Rethinking Translation, London & NY, Routledge, 1992, pp.1-13, E-RES, RES
* Wechsler, Robert, "The Intimacy of Submission," in his Performing Without a Stage, North Haven, CT, Catbird Press, pp.32-50, E-RES, RES

Fri 9/5
Discuss Venuti & Wechsler: translator/author, cultural difference, translating and power hierarchies.

 

For Mon 9/8
Read:
*TL 15-84
Mon 9/8
Discuss TL 15-84: specific translation challenges

For Wed 9/10
Continue pondering TL translation challenges!
Read:
* Wechsler, Robert, "Lost and Found," in Performing Without a Stage, pp. 51-64, E-RES, RES

Writing project 1 due Writing project 2 (due Wed 9/17): Translate the poem you selected. You may choose to use this project as a first draft for Project 7 (below) and, if so, will be amending it during the course of the semester.

Wed 9/10
Discuss TL 15-84 (as needed)
Discuss Wechsler article

 For Fri 9/12
Read:
*Weinberger and Paz book
* TSR, Nabokov piece, pp.115-27
Writing project 3 (due Mon 9/26): Translate the prose segment you selected. You may choose to turn it into a first draft for Project 7 (below) and, if so, will be amending it during the course of the semester.

Fri 9/12
Translating poetry
 Weinberger & Paz & Nabokov on Pushkin in TRS

What is translation? On a platter
A poet's pale and glaring head.
A parrot's screech, a monkey's chatter,
And profanation of the dead.
(Nabokov, tr of Evgenii Onegin xiii)

For Mon 9/15
Read:
*Thomas E. Burman, "Tafsir and Translation: Traditional Arabic Quran Exegesis and the Latin Qurans of Robert Ketton and Mark of Toledo" Speculum 73, 3 (July 1998): 703-32

 
Read if you have time a couple of interesting recent items, one on translating the Quran:
and one on the danger (physical danger!) of translators in Iraq
For Wed 9/17

Read:
*Fox, Everett et al. "In the beginning was the Word--and They've Been Arguing About it Ever since," NY Times Magazine 10/22, 1995 (handout)
*Fox, Everett, "On the Name of God and its Translation" (handout)
*Fox, Everett, tr. "Preface to the Paperback Edition, Genesis and Exodus. A New English Rendition, New York : Schocken Books, 1990.pp. xiii-xxx, E-RES, RES
*Five Bible Translations (handout)

Discussion themes:
Compare the five Bible translations. What clues do the texts offer as to:
a) what are the translators trying to do?
b) at what audience do they aim?
c) how do the translators defer to or assert authority?

 

 
Mon 9/15
Historical issues and issues of authority in translation I.
Discussion of the history of Quran translation based on the Burman article

Wed 9/17
Historical issues and issues of authority in translation II. We begin discussion of Bible translations.



 For Fri 9/19
Make sure you've read the Bible translation texts (above)
Writing project 2 due Writing project 4 (due Fri 10/10--I encourage you to get it done earlier since # 5 is due just a few days later!): Compare two Bible translations, at least one of which is not in the handout materials. Are the translators more concerned with the original or with the new audience? In what ways might differences in translation cause differences in religious practice or belief? Which translation resonates most with you and why? (2-3 pages)

Fri 9/19
Discussion of Bible translation

 

For Mon 9/22
Now for something completely different: a smattering of subtitling
Read:
*"Subtitling" in Shuttleworth, Mark and Moira Cowie, Dictionary of Translation Studies, Manchester, UK, St. Jerome, 1997.161-62 (handout), RES
*Hatim, Basil & Ian Mason, "Politeness in Screen Translating" (TSR, older ed., handout)
*Mark Nornes Abé, "For an Abusive Subtitling," in TSR, 447-69

Write: Work on project 3

Mon 9/22

Intermedia translation: subtitling films.
What information do we get without translation?

Film screening:
Alexander Rogozhkin, "The Cuckoo" (2002, 100 mins)--the Russian original without subtitles. Take notes about:
a) what happens and
b) what the characters say to each other--the languages spoken are Russian, Finnish, and Sami (the language spoken by the indigenous population in Northern Scandinavia).
c) what sorts of cultural signals are you getting/not getting?

 

 

For Wed 9/24
Organize your film notes


Wed 9/24
Film screening:
Alexander Rogozhkin, "The Cuckoo" continued--continue take notes as above
Discussion of non-linguistic signals: body language, clothing, setting, props, etc. What did you NOT understand?

 


 For Fri 9/26
Organize your film notes and be prepared to discuss them.
Read: A Elizabeth Randa's (Carleton) student's paper on this film
Fri 9/26
Concluding discussion of "The Cuckoo" and Randa's paper
 For Mon 9/29
Think about what might be different about translating for children!
Writing Project 4 due


Mon 9/29
Guest speaker: Anna Brailovsky: "Translating for young adults" based on her professional experience translating three books by the German author Julia Richter--one of which won an award for best translation of children's lit.

For Wed 10/1
* NPR commentary on Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" (handouts)




Wed 10/1
Film screening:
Sofia Coppola "Lost in Translation"--clips and discussion

In what sense are the characters "lost"? What characters are "lost"--Japanese and/or American? Are the viewers "lost"? What's meant here by "translation"? Linguistic and/or extra-linguistic "translation"?



For Fri 10/3

Work on projects!

Writing project 5 (due Wed 10/15):
Choose a short segment (1-2 mins) of a film in a foreign language you know that is subtitled in English. make a tanscription of the spoken dialogue and of the subtitles for that segment. Write a brief (1-2 page) analysis of the subtitles in this film, according to the parameters laid out in the Abé and Hatim and Mason articles, the NPR commentary, and your own findings from your "The Cuckoo" experience..
Thurs 10/2 - Sat 10/4: International Round Table: "Whither Development?: The Struggle for Livelihood in the Time of Globalization" with prominent speakers from outside Macalester as well as Mac students and faculty participating. I encourage you to attend! (You should receive detailed schedules)

Fri 10/3
NO CLASS: ATTEND INTERNATIONAL ROUND TABLE!

 For Mon 10/6
Read:
*Jacquemond, Richard, "Translation and Cultural Hegemony: The Case of French-Arabic Transaltion," In Venuti, Rethinking Translation, pp.139-58, E-RES, RES

Mon 10/6
Translation and power hegemonies.
Discussion of Jacquemond piece.

 For Wed 10/8 and Fri 10/10
Read:
*May, Rachel, "Translation Culture," The Translator in the Text, Evanston, IL, Northwestern U press, 1994, pp. 11-55; focus on her substantive points and skip the examples. E-RES, RES




Wed 10/8
Discussion of May piece

Fri 10/10
Discussion of May piece


For Mon 10/13
Work on your written projects!
Writing project 4 due
Mon 10/13
No Class: Instead, attendance on Tuesday's lecture is required! (Unless you have an absolutely unsurmountable conflict!)

For Wed 10/15
Read:
Remnik, David, "Translation Wars"

on the new War and Peace translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokohonsky
TUES 10/14 at 4:30 in 4th Floor Lounge in Old mail
Guest speaker: JIM KATES (President of the American Literary Translators Association): "Reading the World." (His description: "How translation brings the literature of the world to English speakers, and how those who are interested in translation can join in.") I've aksed him to follow up the talk with a reading/discussion of samples from his own translations. The time and date are now confirmed, please arrange to attend! AND--feel free to bring your friends!

Wed 10/15
Translation history, conclusions:
Discussion of Pevear and Volokhonsky's War and Peace.

Theoretical and artistic issues in translation. Student presentations/class discussions for the(see below). I have paired up students alphabetically to present articles to the class and lead our discussions of them (you can juggle the pairing if you wish but let the rest of us know). You work out who does what in the presentation/discussion, but try to share the work equitably. The main thing is to report on the article, and add to it whatever you feel might benefit our understanding of it (background on the author, research on sources mentioned in the article, references to other readings on the same topic, visuals, handouts, interactive class activities, etc.). Summarize the salient points of the article and and add your criticism of it! Each presentation should be about 15-20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion. The rest of the class should read all the pieces as well--at least skim them to be able to participate in discussion.
Some general questions for discussion:
How does the author assess the possibility of translation?
What is the translator's role vis-à-vis the original?
What is the translator's role vis-à-vis the target culture?
Is it better to make a translation fit the target culture, or to preserve a sense of foreignness?
What kind of power does the translator have?
In what ways is the translator made powerless?
While reading these articles, you should also be thinking about and working on:
Writing project 6 due (Wed 11/7): Research paper on a cultural or linguistic issue in translation (10-15 pp). See Possible topics list!
Writing project 5 due.

For Mon 10/20
Think about what possible problems could be involved in translating autobiography--in preparation for our guest!

 
Thur 10/16-Sun 10/19 FALL B REAK

Mon 10/20
Guest speaker: Diane Nemec-Ignashev: "Translating autobiography" (Confirmed!)

For Wed 10/22
Student presentations/discussion pieces 1 and 2:
*Schleiermacher, Friedrich, "On the Different Methods of Translating," TSR 43-63 (Andra Bosneag & Daniel Calderon)
*Benjamin, Walter, "The Task of the Translator" in TSR, 75-85 (Erin Garnaas-Holmes & Zena Hardt)


Wed 10/22
Theoretical issues in translation: student presentations.
Student presentation/Discussion pieces 1 & 2--other foundational statements:

*Schleiermacher, Friedrich, "On the Different Mathods of Translating," TSR 43-63 (Andra Bosneag & Daniel Calderon)
*Benjamin, Walter, "The Task of the Translator" in TSR, 75-85 (Erin Garnaas-Holmes & Zena Hardt)


 For Fri 10/24
Discussion pieces 3 & 4:
 * Borges, Jorge Luis, "The Translators of the Thousand and One Nights," TSR, 94-108 (Alia Scanlon& Joe Houlihan)
*Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet, "A Methodology for Translation," TSR 128-37 (Airiin Lehtmets & Chaojie Miao)

Fri 10/24
Student presentation/Discussion pieces 3 & 4:

* Borges, Jorge Luis, "The Translators of the Thousand and One Nights," TSR, 94-108 (Alia Scanlon& Joe Houlihan)
* (Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet, "A Methodology for Translation," TSR 128-37 (Airiin Lehtmets & Chaojie Miao)

For Mon 10/27
Discussion pieces 5 & 6:
* Lefevere, André, "Mother Courage's Cucumbers: text, System and Refraction in a Theory of Literature" TSR 239-55 (Sarah Nilsson Dolah & Brian Dunlap)
*Chamberlain, Lori, "Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation," TSR, 306-21 (Elizabeth Hoefer& Grant Schaefer)

Mon 10/27
Student presentation/Discussion pieces 5 & 6:

* Lefevere, André, "Mother Courage's Cucumbers: text, System and Refraction in a Theory of Literature" TSR 239-55 (Sarah Nilsson Dolah & Brian Dunlap)
*Chamberlain, Lori, "Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation," TSR, 306-21 (Elizabeth Hoefer& Grant Schaefer)


 For Wed 10/29
Discussion pieces 7 & 8:
*Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, "The Politics of Translation," TSR, 369-88, (Sarah Halvorsen-Fried & Karen Maeda)
*Appiah, Kwame Anthony, "Thick Translation," TSR, 389-401 (Rhiannon Tippery & Katherine Whitmore)

Wed 10/29
Student presentation/Discussion pieces 7 & 8:

*Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, "The Politics of Translation," TSR, 369-88, (Sarah Halvorsen-Fried & Karen Maeda)
*Appiah, Kwame Anthony, "Thick Translation," TSR, 389-401 (Rhiannon Tippery & Katherine Whitmore)



 For Fri 10/31
Discussion piece 9 & 10:
*Harvey, Keith, "Translating Camp Talk: Gay Identities and Cultural Transfer," TSR, 402-22 (Jordan Vesey & Clara Younge)


Fri 10/31
Student presentation/Discussion piece 9 & 10:
*Harvey, Keith, "Translating Camp Talk: Gay Identities and Cultural Transfer," TSR, 402-22 (Jordan Vesey & Clara Younge)

The second half of the class will be left open for paper consultations--individual or collective: your choice!

For Mon 11/3
Read:
*Brisset, Anne, "The Search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity," TSR, 337-68 (Tosca Saltz & volunteer? Gitta?)

Writing project 7 (due Wed 11/19): Keep working on your poem or prose translations . The final version should be a translation with annotations about your goals and specific difficulties as well as your rationale for your solutions.

Mon 11/3
*Brisset, Anne, "The Search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity," TSR, 337-68 (Tosca Saltz & volunteer: Andra Bosneag)

The second half of class will be left open for paper consultations--individual or collective: your choice!

For Wed 11/5
Keep consulting/working on your research
Wed 11/5
Theoretical readings: Conclusions and/or paper consultations.

For Fri 11/7
Finish working on your research

Fri 11/7
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class.

 

 For Mon 11/10
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class--think about particularly vexing problems
Writing project 6 due

Mon 11/10
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class.

For Wed 11/12
Think about questions you might have for our speaker concerning translating euphemisms--perhjaps you ran into some in your projects?

Wed 11/12

Guest: Larry Bogoslaw will speak about "Translating Euphemisms" (Confirmed!)

For Fri 11/14
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class--think about particularly vexing problems
Fri 11/14
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class.

 For Mon 11/17
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and /or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class--think about particularly vexing problems.
Mon 11/17
General discussion of the problems you encountered in your translations and/or research--be prepared to share your findings with the class.

For Wed 11/19
Read for fun about what's been done with drama classics:
Jason Zinoman, "Sampling 'The Seagull'," NY Times February 1, 2004 (handout)
English-English translation: Shakespeare Lite or "Translations of the Bard: Perorations Devoutly to be Missed" (handout)

Writing project 8 (due Wed 11/26):

Translate (a fast, non-polished translation, perhaps just in your mind) Chapter 3 of Alice in Wonderland from your second language translation back into English. I will hand out copies of the original English text so that you can compare your re-translation with the original (as you go). As soon as you come across some interesting deviation from English, make a note of it (mark it on your copy, attach a stickie, jot it down on a separate sheet--whatever works best for you). When you've made it through the chapter, decide which discrepancies are most interesting from a translational-cultural point of view and write about them (a few pages, max 5), to be handed in on 11/26. We will then discuss these discrepancies in class on 11/26, 12/1, and 12/3 and see how different translators into different languages have handled Lewis Carroll's text and the underlying cultural differences.

Wed 11/19

Final research presentations

Discussion of Shakespeare Lite.

For Mon 11/24
Read: Garry Trudeau, "I'm a Tip-Top Starlet,"--comments made by Madonna to the Hungarian paper Blikk and back again into English (handout); "Sampling the Seagull"--Chekhov: African-American version
Fri 11/21 NO CLASS. I'll be at the AAASS Slavic conference

Mon 11/24

Continue: Shakespeare lite
Discussion of what was lost and what was gained in the Madonna interview; Afro-American Chekhov



 

 For Wed 11/26
Contemplate "English as she is spoke" and be prepared to tell us what you found amusing, sad, good, etc. (handout)
Writing project 7 due: Annotated translations

Wed 11/26

English as She is Spoke--humor unintentionally gained in Portuguese-English translation


 For Mon 12/1
Be prepared to discuss what was lost and gained in your re-translation of Alice
Thurs 11/27-Sun 11/30: THANKSGIVING BREAK
Mon 12/1
Different Alices: Class discussion

 For Wed 12/3
Be prepared to discuss what was lost and gained in your re-translation of Alice
Writing project 8 Alice due

Wed 12/3
Losses and gains in translation & in Alice.

For Fri 12/5
Be prepared to discuss what was lost and gained in your re-translation of Alice

 

Fri 12/5
Conclusions about losses and gains in translation & in Alice.

Recommended post-course reading:
"Translatese" as literary style: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated--sample

Take a look at the handout sample of Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated. His style could be called "translatese"--why? find specific examples.

No Final Exam, but we may want to meet and wrap things up at the scheduled final on 12/8 10:30-12:30

Last updated Nov 17, 2008

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