Translation: Theory and Practice
CHUM 355
Fall 2009
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
GRST 285, COL 355, RUSS 355, ALIT 355, FRST 355, ENGL 354, SPAN 355, IBST 355, RLIT 355 |
This course treats the reading of theoretical texts from the field of translation studies and the writing (or production) of creative texts in the literary mode of translation as complementary heuristic procedures for opening an investigation into the problems and possibilities of language and/in alterity. Readings will include literary, philosophical, historical, and linguistic accounts of translation in conjunction with (and sometimes directly paired with) influential and experimental translations from a range of 20th century writers. We will familiarize ourselves with the practical choices that face a translator, from classical distinctions between free and literal translation through contemporary concerns regarding domestication and foreignization, (post-)colonial power relations, and translation across media.
Written assignments will consist of intra- and interlingual translations that will provide first-hand experience with the choices a translator must make and the resistances that language can offer, as well as providing a space for exploring the limits of rewriting, manipulation, and transformation that are possible within the rubric of translation. Final projects will be hybrids of creative and critical writing, with students producing readings of their chosen foreign-language texts through some interaction between translation and more conventional forms of criticism.
Students who are working on a longer translation project (e.g., as part of a senior thesis) will be allowed to focus on this text for many of the assignments during the semester.
Students must have at least intermediate-level proficiency in one or more foreign language(s), i.e., enough to feel comfortable translating a short piece of poetry or literary prose. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Writing
A primary focus of the course will be students' writing and translations.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (RMST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Primary: works and translations by Jorge Louis Borges, Brian Friel, Vladimir Nabokov, bp nichol, Ezra Pound, Jerome Rothenberg, Gertrude Stein, and Louis and Celia Zukofsky. Secondary: criticism and theory by Emily Apter, Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida, Roman Jakobson, Barbara Johnson, Vladimir Nabokov, Tejaswini Niranjana, WVO Quine, Douglas Robinson, John Searl, Gayatri Spivak, George Steiner, Lawrence Venuti, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly writing assignments consisting primarily of translation exercises; final project will combine translation with a critical essay. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Prerequisite: Students must have at least intermediate-level proficiency in one or more foreign language(s), i.e., enough to feel comfortable translating a short piece of poetry or literary prose. |
| Instructor(s): Fitzpatrick,Joseph J. Times: .M.W... 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: CFS124; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 8 | JR non-major: 6 | SO: 5 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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