CJCC18 Lost in translation

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Recommended Type of Completion: z (credit). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Zbyněk Fišer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Tomáš Míka (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Zbyněk Fišer, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Literature – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Petr Šipka
Supplier department: Division of Czech for Foreigners – Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to motivate students to think in such a way that will allow them to solve the basic problems which are encountered by translators to and from Czech. In the seminar each student works with translations to Czech or English, and the problems related to this type of translation are analysed. Further aims are to gain an understanding of the original text and be able to analyse it on all levels, to learn throughcreative methods in the translation process, and to be capable of explaining one's own decisions about how to translate a given text.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course the student will be able to solve the main problems which a translator encounters in their work.
They will learn to gain a deep understanding of the original text and will be able to analyse it on all levels.
Will be able to define the main strategy of their approach to translation, use creative methods in the translation process and justify their approach to the translation.
Syllabus
  • Translations of excerpts from literary texts by Czech authors (poetry and prose), for example:
  • Karel Jaromír Erben: Kytice
  • Vladimír Holan: Terezka Planetová
  • Literary texts by British/American authors, for example:
  • Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass
  • Samuel Beckett: Watt
  • John Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress
  • Non-literary texts- technical/economic/journalistic/legal texts – Czech and English. The seminar will also involve the analysis of published translations, through which the approach of individual translators to specific translations will be demonstrated.
Literature
  • Jorge Luis Borges: Word-Music and Translation in This Craft of Verse
  • LEVÝ, Jiří. Umění překladu. Edited by Karel Hausenblas. Vyd. 3., upr. a rozš. verze. Praha: Ivo Železný, 1998, 386 s. ISBN 802373539X. info
Teaching methods
Discussion in the seminar, working in pairs/group work, homework.
Assessment methods
Assessment of translations prepared individually by students at the end of the semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/CJCC18