AJ29081 Song Lyrics in Translation

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2008
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Simona Javůrková (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Thu 10:00–11:35 G21
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Song lyrics are sometimes called the poetry of the modern age as for many young people a good text is as close as they get to a poem. The best authors of lyrics do use language to open up the reality in new and interesting ways - however, in songs the text always lives in relation to music. Translating song lyrics is thus an extremely challenging task - in this seminar we will look at songs of different genres (jazz, R&B, rock, hiphop, folk, musical..) and attempt to re-create them in Czech. If we accept the fact that the "ideal solution" will hardly be reached, we can enjoy the search. Also, we will examine the tradition and current practice of translating song lyrics into Czech.
Syllabus
  • Week 1 Introduction – course outline, the Elf, primary and secondary sources
  • Week 2 History of singing; tradition of lyrics translation; different approaches and strategies of lyrics translation; basic rules. Example: Singing in the Rain (Gene Kelly) /Zpívání v dešti (Jiří Korn)
  • Week 3 Beatles: Yesterday
  • A „warming up“ song with a straightforward melody. Issues to be dealt with: the genre of a love-song, the role of tradition, norms and expectations in lyrics translation (Czech versions by Pavel Novák and Jaromír Mayer).
  • Week 4 M. Ward: Chinese Translation
  • A more complex text opening more interpretations. Issues to be dealt with: consistency of interpretation; role of the factual background.
  • Week 5 South Park: I Can Change (sang by Saddam Hussein)
  • A parody dealing with political topics. Issues to be dealt with: parody, humour and hyperbole in lyrics translation; expressive language in song lyrics; a text in interaction with its visual representation.
  • Week 6 Dan Bárta: On My Head
  • A teen “hit” song. Issues to be dealt with: motivation for singing in English for Czech audiences; searching for meaning.
  • Week 7 Nick Cave: Henry Lee
  • A horror ballad duet. Issues to be dealt with: a song as an epic story, song lyrics as a dialogue of two singers; balladic features alluding to folk songs tradition.
  • Week 8 Lauryn Hill: Everything Is Everything
  • A hiphop “minority song“. Issues to be dealt with: social criticism in song lyrics; cultural context; how to deal with rhythm in English texts (rap, hiphop).
  • Week 9 Hush Pretty Baby
  • An English lullaby. Issues to be dealt with: translating songs for childern; cross-cultural comparison (the role of tradition and expectations again).
  • Week 10 Friends
  • A notorious TV song. Issues to be dealt with: lyrics in service – advertising, politics, signature tunes.
  • Week 11 The Smiths: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
  • A slightly different love song. Issues to be dealt with: balance between the serious and the ironic; “minority” texts.
  • Week 12 Jesus Christ Superstar
  • A song from a musical. Issues to be dealt with: characteristic features of the genre; names and culture-bound expressions in song lyrics; songs in interaction.
Literature
  • Vymětal, Josef: Hudební překlady. In: České teorie překladu, 2. díl. Ed. Jiří Levý. Praha, 1996
  • Koopman, John: A Brief History Of Singing. Lawrence University, 1999. http://www.lawrence.edu/fast/KOOPMAJO/brief.html
  • LAUER, Martin. Translation of song lyrics from English. Photo by Jiří Rambousek. 2001, 177 s. URL info
  • MERTA, Vladimír. Zpívaná poezie :úvaha vzniklá za pochodu v letech 1982-84. 1. vyd. Praha: Panton, 1990, 141 s. ISBN 80-7039-032-8. info
  • POPOVIČ, Anton. Teória umeleckého prekladu : aspekty textu a literárnej metakomunikácie. 2. preprac. a rozš. vyd. Bratislava: Tatran, 1975, 293 s. info
  • LEVÝ, Jiří. Umění překladu. Vyd. 1. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1963, 283 s. info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
- těžiště práce během semestru spočívá v překládání a komentování vybraných písňových textů a v obecnějším seznamování s "pravidly žánru";
- hodnocena je také práce v semináři včetně ústní prezentace k jednomu z témat, stejně jako aktivita na webové stránce kurzu (fora, diskuze);
zápočet - docházka, překlady odevzdané během semestru, aktivita v semináři;
zkouška - závěrečný překlad s teoretickou analýzou
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Předmět si nemohou zapsat studenti Bc. studia AJ
Teacher's information
http://www.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=1076
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007.
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