LANG 5800 / HNRS 4900
The Practice & Theory of Literary Translation

Dr. Jeffrey Angles (jeffrey.angles@wmich.edu)

Spring 2007 / W 5:00-7:30 pm / 2202 Dunbar Hall

CRN 15676 (LANG 5800) / CRN 14440 (HNRS 4900) 

Office Hours: TR 11:00-12:00 or by appointment

Office: 518 Sprau Tower / Tel. No.: 269-387-3044

For most updated syllabus: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~jangles/courses/2007spring/lang5800

Spatial Poem No. 1 (1965) 
By SHIOMI Mieko 

Image from Alexandra Munroe, Japanese Art After 1945:
Scream Against the Sky (NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1994) 235.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

· Introduction

· Goals of the Class

· Grading

· On Individual Project Presentations

· On Internet Participation

· Required Texts

· Additional Notes

· Course Readings & Schedule

· Make-Ups / Late Work

· Academic Integrity

· Other Recommended Reading

INTRODUCTION

Translation has played a critical role in the development of literature throughout history.  These influences are rarely one-sided, however.  One could point to the tremendous influence of translations of French and Belgian symbolist poetry on Japanese poets such as Kitahara Hakushū (1885-1942) as well as the profound impact of translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry on Western imagists such as Ezra Pound (1885-1972) to show that translations have played a critical role in spurring new literary movements all over the world.

Theories of translation and the role of the translator, however, have changed significantly over time.  At times, translators have been seen as little more than middlemen pouring words from the vessel of one language to the vessel of another; however, this view neglects the enormous role that the translator plays in shaping the text.  The translator is typically faced with the question of whether to modify the world of the text in order to make it accessible to the target culture or whether to attempt to bring the readers toward the culture that produced the text.  How different translators respond to these issues has a large bearing on the ways that the target audience sees the world of the text and culture that produced it.

This seminar brings together students of multiple languages to talk about translation in both its theoretical and practical aspects.  The course divides time evenly between discussion of theoretical writings on translation and discussion of the practical side of translation.  During the theoretical discussion, class discussion will focus on articles about the kinds of bias that translators might bring to their text, the various possible modes for translating different sorts of texts, some of the ways that translation has shaped literary history, and the relationship between translation, nationalism, international representation, literary fame, gender, and representivity.

For the hours dedicated to the practical side of translation, students will be required to translate one brief text of their own choosing from another language into English.  Each week, we will examine the progress of one or two students, discuss the problems of translating from his or her particular language, the textual issues raised by the act of translation, and practical approaches to address these issues.  In this way, the seminar couples discussion of the issues inherently raised by translation with a concrete exploration of the nuts and bolts of the act of translation itself.  Living in our postmodern world of rapid globalization, these issues have significant implications for our daily lives.

GOALS OF THE CLASS:

· To examine the implications of translation, as both as art and as an act of writing, especially in relation to issues of authority, power, canonization, gender, and globalization.

· To provide a survey of the burgeoning field of translation studies.

· To create a forum in which students can work on an individual translation project of their own choosing.

· To create a cross-linguistic environment in which students from different linguistic backgrounds can discuss the challenges of translating from their particular language.

GRADING:

· 30% Two short take-home essay questions (5-7 pp. each)

· 20% Presentations on status and problems of individual research project

· 20% Final status of translation project 

· 20% Final exam

· 10% Participation in internet discussion

The instructor promises to have graded essays and other materials to students within two weeks after students submitted their work.  

ON PRESENTATIONS REGARDING INDIVIDUAL PROJECT:

· Beginning in the late part of the second week, approximately half of the class time of each class period will be dedicated to student presentations on status and problems of their individual translation project.  

· Each student should expect to report to the class on their project twice or three times per semester, depending on the size of the class.

· When presenting, students should bring the following for all students: (1) a copy of one original passage from the text being translated, (2) a translation that is as literal as possible, (3) a more polished, "finished" translation, and (4) a list of problems, difficulties, and issues encountered in translating the passage. 

· The class will work through the passage with the presenter, discussing the problems encountered, the readability of the translation, and other various issues as they arise.  

ON INTERNET PARTICIPATION:

In order to facilitate discussion about the reading assignments, all students should post a reaction and/or question regarding the reading assignments each week, starting in the second week.  The questions should be submitted to the course discussion list by 3:00 pm of the day of class.  Students can submit questions regarding the historical context of the essays, the biases of the writer(s), problems of the argument, points that the writer(s) do not cover sufficiently, and so on.  

How to post a question to the discussion boards of WebCT Vista:

· Go to http://gowmu.wmich.edu & enter your user name & password.

· Click on "My E-Learning Through Vista."

· Click on "LANG 5800."

· Click on "Discussions."

· Click on week for which you want to write a comment.

· Click on “Create message.”

· Write your comments or questions for the week.

· When finished, click "post."

TEXTBOOKS:                                               

Required:

· Lawrence VENUTI, ed., The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed (NY: Routledge, 2004).

· Lawrence VENUTI, The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference (NY: Routledge, 1998).

Recommended:

· David MACEY, Dictionary of Critical Theory (NY: Penguin, 2000).

· Also, we will be reading some essays from Jeremy MUNDAY, Introducing Translation Studies (London: Routledge, 2001). This is available free of charge over the internet through WestCat (WMU Library System).  To access the book, go to www.wmich.edu/library and search for “Introducing Translation Studies.”  Click on “An electronic book accessible through the WWW.”  If you are off-campus, you will need to put in your user name and password (the same ones you use to access GoWMU and your e-mail).  Use the tools in the middle of the page and the top of the page to navigate to the correct section. 

· We will read other assorted other essays that will be made available via WebCT Vista.  Those essays are included in the schedule below in blue text.  To sign onto WebCT Vista, following the following steps.

· Go to gowmu.wmich.edu and sign on with your user name and password.

· Click on “My E-Learning WebCT Vista.”

· Click on the entry for “LANG 5800.”

· Click on “Course readings.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  

· All students should have completed or be currently enrolled in a 3000-level foreign language course or have prior permission of the instructor.  

· The instructor has designed this course on the assumption that students do not necessarily read the languages of all the other students in the course.The goal is to gain experience with the historical status of the idea of translation, the social meaning of translation, and the nuts and bolts of embarking upon a translation in your area of expertise.

COURSE READINGS & SCHEDULE (Subject to change):

Readings listed below in blue are available on electronic reserve.   (Instructions about how to access the readings will be available in class.) 

WEEK 1 (Jan 10)

· Jeremy MUNDAY, "Chapter 1: Main Issues of Translation Studies" and "Chapter 2: Translation Theory Before the Twentieth Century," Introducing Translation Studies (London: Routledge, 2001) 1-34.

· James S. HOLMES, “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies,” The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 180-92.

WEEK 2 (Jan 17)

· JEROME, “Letter to Pammachius,” trans. Kathleen Davis, The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 21-30.

· Nicolas Perrot d’ABLANCOURT, “Preface to Tacitus,” trans. Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 31-37.

· John DRYDEN, "On Translation," Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida, ed. Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) 17-31.

· Nobuyuki YUASA, "Translating 'The Sound of Water' Different Versions of a Hokku by Basho," The Translator's Art: Essays in Honour of Betty Radice, ed. William Radice and Barabara Reynolds (London: Penguin, 1987) 231-240.

· Hiroaki SATO, "Chapter 7: One Hundred Frogs," One Hundred Frogs (NY: Weatherhill, 1983) 147-75.  

WEEK 3 (Jan 24)

· Friedrich SCHLEIERMACHER, "On the Different Methods of Translating," trans. Susan Bernofsky, The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 43-63.

· Johann Wolfgang von GOETHE, "Translations," trans. Sharon Sloan, The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 64-66.

· Arthur SCHOPENHAUER, “On Language and Words,” trans. Peter Mollenhauer, Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida, ed. Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) 32-35.

· Friedrich NIETZSCHE, “On the Problem of Translation,” trans. Peter Mollenhauer, Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida, ed. Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) 68-70.

· In-class presentations by Katie Wildes and Johnna Ap’Morrygan

WEEK 4 (Jan 31)

· Walter BENJAMIN, "The Task of the Translator," trans. Harry Zohn, The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 75-85.

· Vladimir NABOKOV, "Problems of Translation: Onegin in English," The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 115-27.

· Jose Ortega Y GASSET, "The Misery and Splendor of Translation," Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida, ed. Rainer SCHULTE and John BIGUENET (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) 93-112.

· In-class presentations by Katie Seamans and Kristen Redd

WEEK 5 (Feb 7)

· Roman JAKOBSON, "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation," The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 138-43.

· Eugene NIDA, "Principles of Correspondence," The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (London: Routledge, 2004) 153-67.

· In-class presentation by Elise Tillman

WEEK 6 (Feb 14)

· George STEINER, "The Hermeneutic Motion," The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (London: Routledge, 2004) 193-99.

· Antoine BERMAN, “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign,” trans. Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (London: Routledge, 2004) 276-89.

· In-class presentations by Lindsey Rucker and Darcy Petersen

WEEK 7 (Feb 21)

· Essay No. 1 due in class. 

· Jacques DERRIDA, "From Des Tours de Babel," Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida, ed. Rainer SCHULTE and John BIGUENET (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) 218-227.

· Jacques DERRIDA, "What is a 'Relevant' Translation?," The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (London: Routledge, 2004) 423-46.

· Philip E. LEWIS, “The Measure of Translation Effects,” The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (London: Routledge, 2004) 256-75.

· In-class presentations by Greg Flynn and Christopher Petro

WEEK 8 (Feb 28)

· Edward SEIDENSTICKER, "On Trying to Translate Japanese," The Craft of Translation, ed. John Biguenet and Rainer Schulte (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989) 142-53.

· Hiroaki SATO, "Forms Transformed: Japanese Verse in English Translation," The Poem Behind the Poem: Translating Asian Poetry, ed. Frank Stewart (Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2004) 175-88.

· In-class presentations by Prof. Larry Snydergaard and Dan Kenzie

WEEK 9 (Mar 7)  SPRING BREAK

WEEK 10 (Mar 14)

· Jeremy MUNDAY, "Chapter 8: Varieties of Cultural Studies" and "Chapter 9: Translating the Foreign, The (In)Visibility of Translation," Introducing Translation Studies (London: Routledge, 2001) 126-161.

· Annie BRISSET, "The Search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity," trans. Rosalind Gill and Roger Gannon, The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 337-368.

· Susan BASSNETT and Harish TRIVEDI, "Introduction: Of Colonies, Cannibals, and Vernaculars," Post-colonial Translation: Theory and Practice, ed. Susan BASSNETT and Harish TRIVEDI (London: Routledge, 1999). 

· In-class presentation by Katie Wilt and Johnna Ap’Morrygan

WEEK 11 (Mar 21)

· Gayatri Chakravorty SPIVAK, "The Politics of Translation," The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 397-416.

· Lori CHAMBERLAIN, "Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation," The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 314-330.

· Keith HARVEY, “Translation Camp Talk: Gay Identities and Culture Transfer,” The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti (NY: Routledge, 2004) 402-22.

· In-class presentations by Katie Wildes and Christopher Petro

WEEK 12 (Mar 28)

· Lawrence VENUTI, "Introduction" and "Chapter 1: Heterogeny," The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference (NY: Routledge, 1998) 1-30.

· In-class presentations by Darcy Petersen and Katie Seamans

WEEK 13 (Apr 4)

· Essay No. 2 due on April 5 (Thurs) at 8:00 pm.