AJ19022 Literary Translation of Short Stories

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Tue 11:40–13:15 G32
Prerequisites
AJ19000 Introduction to Translation || AJ19000 Introduction to Translation
AJ19000 Introduction to Translation
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Students will be introduced to literary translation through their own involvement in translation of selected short stories from different English-speaking cultures. At the end of the course, students will be able to cope with a relatively wide range of phenomena literary translators have to face and demonstrate a functional understanding of factors coming into play. They will have acquired practical skills and theoretical insights in a range of general topics typical of translation of fiction such as the relation between translation and interpretation; cohesion and coherence in translation; translation and style; informal speech stylization; authorial idiolect; translation of humour; translation and cultural conventions; allusions and intertextuality; language play and translatability. The course will nevertheless gravitate towards practical translatorial work; students will therefore also have increased the degree of automatization of relevant skills.
Syllabus
  • W1 Short story as a literary genre and its translation; levels of translators work;
  • W2 Donald Barthelme: The School; cohesion and coherence in translation;
  • W3 Lydia Davis: Old Mother and the Grouch; semantic overdetermination in translation;
  • W4 Martin Amis: The Immortals; translation and interpretation, identifying and translating style;
  • W5 Martin Amis: The Immortals; J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye; approaches to informal speech stylization;
  • W6 Angela Carter: The Kiss; authorial idiolect;
  • W7 H. H. Munro: The Quest; translation of humour, comparison with existing translations;
  • W8 Margaret Atwood: Gertrude Talks Back; text as a polemic;
  • W9 Margaret Atwood: Gertrude Talks Back; translation, allusions and intertextuality;
  • W10 Margaret Atwood: There Was Once; translation and cultural conventions;
  • W11 Ursula le Guin: Texts; translation and interpretation;
  • W12 translation of another text selected during the semester, discussion on course essay topics;
  • W13 revision of translations on one of the texts dealt with during the semester; course evaluation, conclusions.
Literature
  • LEVÝ, Jiří. Umění překladu. Vyd. 3., upr. a rozš. Praha: Ivo Železný. 386 s. ISBN 802373539X. 1998. info
  • NEWMARK, Peter. A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice Hall. 292 s. ISBN 0-13-912593-0. 1988. info
  • AMIS, Martin. Einstein's monsters. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. 132 s. ISBN 0-14-010315-5. 1988. info
  • ATWOOD, Margaret Eleanor. Good bones. London: Bloomington. 153 s. ISBN 0-7475-1331-7. 1992. info
  • BAILEY, Paul. An immaculate mistake :scenes from childhood and beyond. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 167 s. ISBN 0-7475-0630-2. 1990. info
  • CARTER, Angela. Black Venus. Picador ed. London: Pan Books. 121 s. ISBN 0-330-29395-8. 1986. info
  • LE GUIN, Ursula K. Orsinian tales. 1st Perennial library ed. New York: Harper & Row. 179 s. ISBN 0060914335. 1987. info
  • SALINGER, J. D. Kdo chytá v žitě. Vyd. 1. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění. 229 s. 1960. info
  • SALINGER, Jerome David. The cather in the rye. London: Penguin Books. 192 s. ISBN 0-14-023749-6. 1994. info
  • SAKI. Kruté šprýmy. Translated by František Vrba. 3. vyd., v nakl. I. Železn. Praha: Ivo Železný. 156 s. ISBN 8023721232. 1995. info
  • SAKI. Léčba neklidem. Illustrated by Petr Poš. 2. vyd. Praha: Odeon. 282 s. ISBN 8020700897. 1989. info
  • Modern short stories. Edited by Jim Hunter. London: Faber and Faber. 212 s. ISBN 0571169864. 1994. info
  • More Modern Short Stories. Oxford: University Press. 130 s. 1990. info
Teaching methods
Seminars: Students prepare in advance by reading, analyzing and translating assigned texts. A major part of each teaching unit is taken up by discussion of translation problems occurring in the assigned passages, both in the specific context and on a more general level. Students practice argumentation for and against particular translation solutions. The teacher offers feedback, both written and oral, leaving some space for students own consideration.
Assessment methods
Seminars will focus on practical translation work with short fiction: literary and translation analysis, interpretation and discussion of translation solutions from students' home assignments, peer evaluation and translation criticism on micro- and macrolevel. The evaluation will include: final versions of students' translations submitted during the semester; class contribution and translation quality improvement; exam - independent translation of an assigned short story.
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2006, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2010/AJ19022