Course description and Syllabus

Sibelan Forrester
Kohlberg 340
tel. (610-328-) 8162
sforres1@swarthmore.edu | http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/sforres1

Office Hours, Fall 2010:
Tuesday, 11-12
Wednesday, 11-12
Thursday, 11-12
... or by appointment

Translation is a fundamental human activity that occurs between languages, cultures, and forms of expression. Without translation, even the most erudite readers would have limited acquaintance with other cultures. Translation practice offers rich data for psycholinguistics and stimulating possibilities for creative writers. This course will combine theory and practice, approaching translation in its full complexity as art and science. Our reading, discussion and practice will draw on the points of view of creative writing, linguistics, and literary theory. The goals of the course are to acquire knowledge about the history and theories of translation and to examine those theories; to practice translation, resulting in a satisfying body of texts; and to gain experience as a supportive editor of other people’s work in progress.

The course can be taken for either Social Science (Linguistics) or Humanities (Literature; Russian) credit. Be aware of the requirements your registration choice entails (see below), and adjust in time if necessary.

If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Tracey Rush in the Office of Student Disability Services, located in Parrish 113, or e-mail trush1> for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Ms Rush is responsible for reviewing and approving disability-related accommodation requests and, as appropriate, she will issue students with documented disabilities an Accommodation Authorization Letter. Since accommodations may require early planning and are not retroactive, please contact her as soon as possible. You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your academic needs. However, all disability-related accommodations must be arranged through Tracey Rush in the Office of Student Disability Services.

Required Texts (for sale in Bookstore or online; copies on Reserve in McCabe):

• The Craft of Translation, eds. John Biguenet and Rainer Schulte (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989)
• The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd edition, ed. Lawrence Venuti (New York and London: Routledge, 2004)

Also, please join the American Literary Translators' Association (ALTA). Your membership will provide you with the ALTA Newsletter, the journal TR (Translation Review), and a great conference (NOT required, though this year it is in Philadelphia, October 20-23, and if you let me know very soon you can get free registration in exchange for spending a few hours working the registration desk). A special part-year $10 membership lasts through the end of 2010. After that, you may renew at the regular student rate of $20 per year. Mail them the completed forms with a check or credit card information.

The ALTA Administrative Assistant is Lindy Jolly, e-mail lindy.jolly@utdallas.edu

Contact info:

ALTA Office
The University of Texas at Dallas
MC35, Box 830688
Richardson, TX 75083-0688

(972) 883-2093 http://www.utdallas.htm

Membership in ALTA brings all kinds of information and rewards (calls for contributions, info on prize competitions, stimulating discussions, contact with other translators), if you put in a bit of time and energy.

Some of our course work can be done electronically, but we usually generate lots of paper. Plan to store it in a convenient way. Always make enough copies of your drafts for workshopping (the syllabus will specify: enough for the whole class, for a smaller group, etc.), so you can get and keep written comments.

Course requirements:

At each class session we’ll discuss required readings, present and critique work in progress, do a focused exercise (on-the-spot translation; editing a brief text, etc.), and, after a few weeks, present your work and research topics. Your participation will determine the quality of everyone's experience, and therefor attendance and participation will count towards your grade.

In the past I’ve arranged frequent bilingual readings for this class, but this year I’d like to try fewer events. You are urged to attend and participate - and to attend at least part of the ALTA conference. Let me know if you must miss a reading for some good reason (e.g., illness, Jazz Ensemble rehearsal); otherwise, absence will impact your grade.

For the last three weeks of the semester or so, you will organize and perform in readings, ideally using material from the fourth written assignment (see below). If you have good ideas at any point please note them down and bring to class. Translators tend to be more diffident than poets or fiction writers — even if they’re also poets or fiction writers! — so think in terms of excitement: how to present your work and your author effectively.

Attendance and participation in class and readings accounts for 20% of your grade, plus an additional 10% for the final bilingual reading.

Three other Oral Assignments:

1-2) At some point during the semester, present and lead discussion of two books or articles chosen from the Suggested list below (or found elsewhere, with instructor’s approval). Study the list and choose ahead of time to get something you’ll care about and enjoy. Ask provocative questions, help field questions from class members. Start with: what do you agree or disagree with, and why? What does this teach you about translation, what is its point of view? What does it omit? What is useful; what merely interesting? How does it relate to the other readings we have done, or to other important cultural opinions? Sign up for presentations in advance. Let me know if you’d like suggestions based on your interests.

3) In the second part of the semester, give an outline of your work in progress — your final paper topic, or the portfolio of annotated translations that you’re preparing. Sign up to do this early enough that comments or suggestions could still be helpful.

Each oral presentation will count for 5% of your grade (15% total).

Four Written Assignments:

After the first bulldozing phase, you may not spend that much time polishing, but you have to let time pass, approach the project in different moods, ask other people for feedback and process it. Plan accordingly.

1. The first translation: one poem or small piece of prose or drama. Find a native speaker or other expert (a professor would be fine) in a language you don’t know, have them help you choose something and then help you work on it. We’ll workshop these during weeks 3 and 4. Final version due September 27; 5% of your grade.
2. The second project: translate a set of 5-6 poems or songs (united by theme, author, literary movement, or the like), or a brief short story, or a short play or scene from a play (aim for 6-10 pages), with a page or so of information about the author/works/tradition; due October 25. 10% of your grade.
3. The third project: an annotated, 2-3 page bibliography of translations by other people (unified by some theme or area), or else of literary, critical or linguistic works (books, articles) on translation, unified by language group or theoretical approach. “Annotated” means that you comment on or evaluate each source you list, so you’ll need to read them (or at least skim) as well as find the citations. (If a source looks terribly relevant but you can’t get your hands on it, go ahead and list it with THAT as the annotation.) If possible, use this to start up your final project. Let me know if you don’t know how to get started. Due November 22. 10% of your grade.
4. The fourth project, if you’re taking this course for RUSSIAN or LITERATURE credit, may be a longer portfolio of translations or a paper combined with a shorter body of translations. Consult with me and/or (if appropriate) another faculty member. Start choosing material and working on this early in the semester; it may include parts of your second project. Put together a 20-25 page portfolio including a 1-2 page “introduction”; or else a 10-15 page paper analyzing the theory, history, or practice of some issue or school of translation, supplemented with relevant translation(s) of your own (10-15 pages).
   If you’re taking this course for LINGUISTICS credit, a substantial part of the final project will be a 10-15 page paper dealing with an appropriate issue in Linguistics — related to your (10-15 page) translation portfolio. Please consult with a faculty member in Linguistics before determining your paper topic.
   Aim for 20-25 pages total. Due . 30% of your grade.

Any written project may be done in the form of a web page, if you prefer. In-class workshopping must be on paper (unless everyone has a laptop to bring to class). A final project on the web (…or a blog about your struggles with The Book of Genji?) can give readers immediate access to your work. (This may suit a research paper or translations of work now out of copyright more than translations of recent writing. Getting permission to make a translation can be a big hairy issue…)

On Reserve (in McCabe):

• John Biguenet and Rainer Schulte, eds., The Craft of Translation
• Robert Bly, The Eight Stages of Translation
• Lawrence Venuti, ed., The Translation Studies Reader

Suggested Readings (all should be available in Tripod):

• Srinivas Aravamudan, Guru English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language
• Flora Ross Amos, Early Theories of Translation
• Matthew Arnold, On Translating Homer
• Mona Baker, Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account
• Willis Barnstone, The Poetics of Translation: History, Theory, Practice
• Susan Bassnett, ed., Translating Literature
• Susan Bassnett-McGuire, Translation Studies
• Hilaire Belloc, On Translation: The Taylorian Lecture, 1931
• Kornei Chukovsky, The Art of Translation
• Michael Cronin, Across the Lines: Travel, Language, Translation
• Anuradha Dingwaney and Carol Maier, eds, Between Languages and Cultures: Translation and Cross-Cultural Texts
• Umberto Eco, Experiences in Translation
• William Frawley, ed. Translation: Literary, Linguistic and Philosophical Perspectives
• Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories
• Theo Hermans, ed., The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation
• Douglas Hofstadter, Le Ton Beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language
• Edward Honig, The Poet's Other Voice: Conversations on Literary Translation
• David Johnston, ed., The Stages of Translation
• Andre Lefevere, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame
• Lauren Leighton, Two Worlds, One Art: Literary Translation in Russia and America
• Suzanne Jill Levine, The Subversive Scribe: Translating Latin American Fiction
• Joseph Malone, The Science of Linguistics in the Art of Translation: Some Tools from Linguistics for the Analysis and Practice of Translation
• Rachel May, The Translator in the Text: On Reading Russian Literature in English
• Joshua Mostow, Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin isshu in Word and Image
• Kurt Mueller-Vollmer and Michael Irmscher, eds, Translating Literatures, Translating Cultures: New Vistas and Approaches in Literary Studies
• Jeremy Munday, Introducing Translation Studies
• Tejaswini Niranjana, Siting Translation: History, Post-Structuralism and the Colonial Context
• Perry Nodelman, Words about Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books
• Gregory Rabassa, If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents. A Memoir
• Alessandra Riccardi, ed., Translation Studies: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline
• Henry Schogt, Linguistics, Literary Analysis and Literary Translation
• Hans Schulte and Gerhard Teuscher, eds., The Art of Literary Translation
• Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet, eds., Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida
• Naomi Seidman, Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation
• Sherry Simon, Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission
• George Steiner, After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation
• Lawrence Venuti, ed., Rethinking Translation: Discourse, Subjectivity, Ideology
• Lawrence Venuti, The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference
• V. N. Voloshinov, Marxism and the Philosophy of Language
• Rosanna Warren, ed., The Art of Translation: Voices from the Field
• Robert Wechsler, Performing Without a Stage: The Art of Literary Translation
• Steven G. Yao, Translation and the Languages of Modernism: Gender, Politics, Language

Online:

TWO LINES: a journal of translation http://www.twolines.com,

Words Without Borders: the Online Magazine for International Literature http://www.wordswithoutborders.org

World Literature Today http://www.ou.worldlit/

(earn points by suggesting other online translation resources!)

And in McCabe reference section:

• Peter France, ed., The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation (PR131 .O94 2000) — besides info on individual languages and literatures, there’s a sizable section on History and Theory of translation into English.

WEEK 1: August 30: What makes you start translating?
Introduction to the course; overview of readings and assignments; establish small groups for the first assignment; Forrester’s Five Stages; Bly's Eight Stages; work on a sample translation draft

Readings for Week 2: "Introduction," The Craft of Translation, vii-xvi; "Introduction," The Translation Studies Reader, 1-9; “Foundational Statements,” TSR 13-20; Jerome, “Letter to Pammachuis,” TSR 21-30; Nicolas Perrot d’Ablancourt, “Prefaces to Tacitus and Lucian,” TSR 31-37; John Dryden, “From the Preface to Ovid’s Epistles,” TSR 38-42.
By Sept. 6: find a native speaker, choose a poem in his or her language, bring that information to class.

WEEK 2: Sept. 6: Which famous writers began as translators?
Introduce everyone again, esp. people who weren’t here last week; "false" translation; in small groups present and describe text chosen for first project (description or even the first rough draft); Goethe’s system and other readings; example of a research paper project-in-progress: translation in Russia.

Readings for Week 3: Gregory Rabassa, "No Two Snowflakes Are Alike: Translation as Metaphor," Craft, 1-12; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Translations,” TSR 64-66; Friedrich Schleiermacher, “On the Different Methods of Translation,” TSR 43-63; Friedrich Nietzsche, “Translations,” TSR 67-68; “1900s-1930s,” TSR 71-74; Walter Benjamin, “”The Task of the Translator,” TSR 75-85.
For Sept. 13, bring enough paper copies of your first project in progress to workshop it in your small group.

WEEK 3: Sept. 13: Why don't translators (usually) use pseudonyms?
Work up poem draft from a trot I'll provide; Rabassa; Nietzsche; Benjamin; talk briefly about the second project; small groups: workshop first project poem

Presentations:

Readings for Week 4: Margaret Sayers Peden, "Building a Translation, the Reconstruction Business: Poem 145 of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz," Craft, 13-27; Ezra Pound, “Guido’s Relations,” TSR 86-93; Jorge Luis Borges, “The Translators of The One Thousand and One Nights,” TSR 94-108; “1940s-1950s,” TSR 111-14; Vladimir Nabokov, “Problems of Translation: Onegin in English,” TSR 115-27.
For Sept. 29, find someone’s translation you like (1-2 pages, or a 1-2 page excerpt of something longer), bring in enough copies for everyone and be ready to explain what you like about it.
FIRST PROJECT IS DUE SEPTEMBER 27!

WEEK 4: Sept. 20: How is translating related to creative writing?
Choose articles/works to present; Peden; Pound; Borges; Nabokov; discuss your experience and results with the first project; another “false translation;” bring in someone else's translation that you like, present and critique them. Form different small groups (if you desire) for the second project.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 5: Burton Raffel, "Translating Medieval European Poetry," Craft, 28-53; Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet, “A Methodology for Translation,” TSR 128-37; Roman Jakobson, “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation,” TSR 138-43.
For Sept. 27, finish first translation, start work on a piece or two of the second project. Choose a well-known poem or a paragraph from a well-known prose work, find 3-4 translations, make enough copies (one page of each translation) for everyone, bring to class and present. Here’s a case where bringing translations FROM English might be fun, as long as you can explain what the differences are in the results. FIRST TRANSLATION IS DUE!

WEEK 5: Sept. 27: How have theories of translation evolved over the centuries?
Read first trasnaltion aloud; look at everyone’s comparative translations; Raffel; Vinay and Darbelnet; Jakobson; describe your second project; in small groups: workshop part of second project (bring enough copies for small group comments)

Presentations:

Readings for Week 6: Edmund Keeley, “Collaboration, Revision, and Other Less Forgivable Sins in Translation,” Craft, 54-69; “1960s-1970s,” TSR 147-51; Eugene Nida, “Principles of Correspondence,” TSR 153-167; Katharina Reiss, “Type, Kind and Individuality of Text: Decision Making in Translation,” TSR 168-79. (Optional: James S. Holmes, “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies,” TSR 180-192.)
For Oct. 4, bring 4-5 copies of drafts of your second project for workshopping. Start thinking about your final project – what does your second project suggest?

WEEK 6: Oct. 4: What if the text to be translated is religious?
Work up a draft translation from a “trot” I'll provide, read and critique our versions; Keeley; Nida; Reiss; Holmes (if people wish); small groups: present more drafts from second project (bring sufficient copies for small groups)

Presentations:

Readings for Week 7: Donald Frame, "Pleasures and Problems of Translation," Craft, 70-92; George Steiner, “The Hermeneutic Motion,” TSR 193-98; Itmar Even-Zohar, “The Position of Translated Literature within the Literary Polysystem,” TSR 199-204; Gideon Toury, “The Nature and Role of Norms in Translation,” TSR 205-18.
For Oct. 18, find a text you like, make a trot of 8-12 lines of it, bring in info about the author and the tradition it’s from. Start your annotated bibliography.

WEEK 7: Oct. 18: What if the writer's so GREAT that the text might as well be religious?
Bring a "trot" from 8-12 lines of a text you've read, work up in small groups, trade back and critique; Frame; Steiner; Even-Zohar; Toury; present what’s ready from your second project, due next week.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 8: John Felstiner, "'Ziv, that light': Translation and Tradition in Paul Celan," Craft, 93-116; “1980s,” TSR 221-26; Hans J. Vermeer, “Skopos and Commission in Translational Action,” TSR 227-38; André Lefevere, “Mother Courage’s Cucumbers: Text, System and Refraction in a Theory of Literature,” TSR 239-55.
For Nov. 3: find a translation you like, bring enough copies of 1-3 pages for everyone, to present in class.
SECOND PROJECT IS DUE OCTOBER 25.

WEEK 8: Oct. 25: What is your relationship to past and future translators?
Present second project work, if you didn’t read it in completed form last week (2nd project due today!); Felstiner; Vermeer; Lefevere; present a translation you like, with 1-3 pages photocopied for everyone as an example.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 9: William Weaver, "The Process of Translation," Craft, 117-24; Philip E. Lewis, “The Measure of Translation Effects,” TSR 256-75; Antoine Berman, “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign,” TSR 276-89. (Optional: Shoshana Blum-Kulka, “Shifts of Cohesion and Coherence in Translation,” TSR 290-305.)
For Nov. 10, find a translation you find problematic, make enough copies of 2-3 illustrative pages for everyone and bring to class.

WEEK 9: Nov 1: What if your translation will most likely be "the last word"?
Present a translation you find problematic, with 2-3 pages of text to illustrate your points; Weaver; Lewis; Berman; Blum-Kulka (if people wish); briefly describe final projects; in small groups: discuss final project shape in more detail, field questions and get suggestions.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 10: Christopher Middleton, "On Translating Günter Eich's Poem 'Ryoanji'," Craft, 125-41; Lori Chamberlain, “Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation,” TSR 306-21; “1990s and Beyond,” TSR 323-35.
For Nov. 17: bring enough copies of part of final project to workshop.

WEEK 10: Nov. 8: What theories have sprung from translation practice or theory?
Middleton; Chamberlain; present part of final project for workshopping in small groups; discussion of helpful theories; strategize, schedule and plan student bilingual readings; briefly describe topic of annotated bibliographies.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 11: Edward Seidensticker, "On Trying to Translate Japanese," Craft, 142-53; Annie Brisset, “The Search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity,” TSR 337-68; Gayatri Chakrovorty Spivak, “The Politics of Translation,” TSR 369-88.
For Nov 24.: complete the annotated bibliography; bring enough copies of another part of final project to workshop.
THIRD PROJECT (BIBLIOGRAPHY) DUE NOVEMBER 22.

WEEK 11: Nov. 15: What is the translator’s relationship to the writer?
Present another draft from final project in small groups; discuss shapes for large projects (including final portfolios), comments and suggestions. Plan final bilingual readings.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 12: Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Thick Translation,” TSR 389-401; Keith Harvey, “Translating Camp Talk: Gay Identities and Cultural Trasfer,” TSR 402-422. (Optional: Jacques Derrida, “What Is a ‘Relevant’ Translation?” TSR 423-46.)

WEEK 12: Nov. 22: How are (are?) translation theory and practice gendered?
Discuss/critique first student bilingual reading, if it already took place—individual pieces and overall impressions; Appiah; Harvey; Derrida (if people wish); discuss the translation biz; creative exercise; further planning for bilingual readings that haven’t yet taken place.

Presentations:

Readings for Week 13: Abé Mark Nornes, “For an Abusive Subtitling,” TSR 447-59; Venuti, “Translation, Community, Utopia,” TSR 482-502.

WEEK 13: Nov 29: Who is your favorite translator?
Nornes; Venuti; readings from final projects; comments on bilingual readings; fill out course evaluations

Dec 6: No class – today is “Friday.” But if you don’t have a Friday afternoon class, consider saving this time for one of the class bilingual readings.

Final project is due December 17 to my office, Kohlberg 340. E-mail submission is also okay, and safer if you would be mailing it from a distant place.

What will you do now?