260: 822
Translation Seminar
Translating Cultures in a Global Context
4308 Social Sciences
Tomislav Longinovic (1452 Van Hise)
Office Hours M 10-11; F 11-12 and by appt.
Students will have one presentation and produce either:
a) a substantial research paper devoted to translation theory (20-25p, MLA style)
or
b) a translation of the text of their choice with short critical introduction (25-35p, MLA style)
The seminar will examine the existing theories of translation, as well as provide students with opportunities to engage in the practice of translation. This practice involves not only the 'craft of literary translator' (Schulte & Biguenet) , but also a larger formation that emerges as a consequence of the cultural 'in-between'. Starting with Walter Benjamin's "The Task of the Translator", we will revisit that strange and paradoxical space of translation, what Carol Jacobs has called "the monstrosity of translation" (1975).
Translation is simultaneously a symptom of violence that induces the global flow of refugees, exiles and immigrants and a practice which strives to promote understanding between languages and cultures. The interaction between two or more 'national' traditions is affected by the processes of translation whose articulation requires not only a constantly shifting theoretical endeavor, but also the combination of empirical research and intellectual practice committed to the non-hierarchical study of cultures.
Cultural origins of different nations are often narrated through the agonistic vision of "one's own" specific story of collective glory and its past, present and future adversaries. What happens when these 'national stories' are placed into interactions in cases of territorial displacement in global migrations? How do relationships between cultures of birth and exile affect core definitions of the "native"? How do these new, hybrid forms of cultural interaction 'translate' and domesticate particular political practices? Those are some of the questions the translation seminar will pose and students will respond to in their term papers.
(available at The Underground Textbook Exchange, 664 State St.)
Course pack is also available at the Underground Textbook Exchange
September 8
Introduction Major themes and organization of the seminar. Sign up for
translation workshops.
September 15
Reading: Susan Basnett, Translation Studies; Walter Benjamin, "The Task
of the Translator"
Discussion: Equivalence and untranslatability. The secret of particular
languages Brot or pain?
September 22
Reading: Susan Basnett, Translation Studies; Robert Wechsler, "Preparing
for the Best"
Discussion: History of translation theory. Translation and literary
genres. Meaning and emotion lost or gained in translation? Becoming a
translator.
September 29
Reading: Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories; Alberto
Manguel, "The Translator as Reader."
Discussion: The American translation workshop. The science of translation
and early translation theory. Problems of tone and style.
October 6
Reading: Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories; Roman
Jakobson, "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation"
Discussion: Polysystem theory and deconstruction. The future of
translation studies. The semiotics of translation
*October 12
Translating Cultures 2000
Theory Workshops a) Translation and Globalization, conducted by Edwin
Gentzler (10-12 AM); b) In Search of the Native Tongue, conducted by Annie
Brisset (2-4PM)
October 13
Reading: Annie Brisset, "In Search of a Native Tongue"
Discussion: Guest appearance by Annie Brisset and discussion of
epistemology and translation in the scientific context.
October 20
Reading: Lawrence Venuti, Scandals of Translation; Jacques Derrida,
"Roundtable on Translation"
Discussion: Heterogeneity and authorship. Ownership and control of the
text. Some philosophical implications of translation.
October 27
Reading: Lawrence Venuti, Scandals of Translation; Jacques Derrida,
"Roundtable on Translation"
Discussion: Translation and the cultural context. Globalization and the
cross-cultural bestsellers. Tower of Babel revisited.
**November 3
Guest lecturer European Languages Translation Workshop conducted by
Michael Henry Heim (UCLA)
November 10
Reading: Budick & Iser, The Translatability of Cultures; Gregory Rabassa,
"No Two Snowflakes are Alike"
Discussion: Translations of religious contexts. Vertical and horizontal
translation. Translation and the specificities of particular languages.
November 17
Reading: Budick & Iser, The Translatability of Cultures;
In search of the universal in language. Translating radical difference.
Chiasmus and the Cross-Cultural Discourse.
December 1
Reading: Rosi Braidotti, Nomadic Subjects; Homi Bhabha, "How Newness
Enters the World"
Discussion: Identities in translation. Gender and translation. Cultural
translation in a postcolonial context.
December 8
Reading: Rosi Braidotti, Nomadic Subjects; Susan Basnett, "From
Comparative Literature to Translation Studies"
Discussion: Translation and the nomadic political project. Metaphors of
cultural becoming. The limits of literature in translation.
December 15
Conclusion: Final remarks and evaluations.
* a translation studies event students are strongly encouraged to attend
** students who wish to have their translations workshopped by Professor
M.H. Heim at this time should let me know by September 15.