English Language and Translation II (mod B)Translation Theory and Practice

Module B (6 CFUs): 5 lectures, 6 hours each 2 parts:• Part 1: translation theory • Part 2: translation practice (tourist texts, IT>EN)

Lesson:Tuesday, 10-13 /15-18

Office hours: Tuesday 14-15 (when in italy)

or by appointment

Info on lecturer: • Website: http://docenti.unimc.it/docenti/elena-davitti• Email: elena.davitti@gmail.com

English Language and Translation II (mod B)Translation Theory and Practice

Part 1 (translation theory)

• Selection of scholars/ theories / trends / notions within TS • Western point of view: development over time (1960s on)• Links between theory and practice of translation• Issue-based approach (e.g. “equivalence”, “quality”, “evaluation”)

*TS is a very broad and complex field, impossible to cover it all!

Part 2 (translation practice)

• Emphasis on translation into the L2 (IT>EN) for tourism• Metalanguage and notions/translation strategies • Practice (including vocabulary expansion activities, text analysis,

etc)

Exam

.

English Language and Translation II (mod B)Translation Theory and Practice

Oral component

approximately 10 minson theory of translation

in English!!!

Written component

Translation IT > EN of tourism-related texts

(1h)

Only MONOLINGUAL English dictionary and thesaurus allowed (*)

Textbooks:

English Language and Translation II (mod B)Translation Theory and Practice

Munday (2001/2008)

Pym (2010)

Venuti (2000/2004)

Baker (1992)

Anthony Pym (2010)

The general view taken here is that what we say about translation has a performative value; this course is not just a matter of knowing who said what. In seeking to develop greater awareness about what translation can be, we enact confrontations between the paradigms.

Unorthodox examples

Clip (1) R. Benigni, La vita è bella interpreting the rules of the concentration

camp given by the Nazi officer (DE>IT)

Clip (2) C. Tate playing Helen Marsh in the multilingual interpreter

Sketch from the BBC comedy show (EN>7 different languages)

Some definitions…Translation [1]

Translation is an operation performed on languages; a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another

[consequently Catford concludes that]

The theory of translation is concerned with a certain type of relation between languages and is consequently a branch of comparative linguistics.

(Catford 1964:20)

Some definitions…Translation [2a]

Translation means ‘recodification’. Hence, a theory of translation is a set of propositions about how, why, when, where…coded elements are rendered into other codes. As such, translation is nothing short of an essential problem of semiosis: it is the problem of transfers of codes.

(Frawley 1984:160)

Some definitions…Translation [2b]

There is no meaning apart from the code. The fact that the semiotic element table is significant in English is attributable to its systematic relations to other semiotic elements in the English language, not the horizontal wooden object arbitrary labeled table.

(Frawley 1984:164)

Some definitions…Translation [3]

To translate means to produce a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addressees in target circumstances.

(Vermeer 1987: 29)

[translation] is a process by which the chain of signifiers that constitutes the source-language text is replaced by a chain of signifiers in the target language which the translator provides on the strength of an interpretation.

(Venuti 1995: 17)

Some definitions…Translation [4]

Some definitions…Translation Studies

…is the academic discipline concerned with the study of translation at large, including literary and non-literary translation, various forms of oral interpreting as well as dubbing and subtitling. […]

‘Translation studies’ is also understood to cover the whole spectrum of research and pedagogical activities, from developing theoretical frameworks to conducting individual case studies to engaging in practical matters such as training translators and developing criteria for translation assessment.

(Baker 1998:277)

Written translation• Literary• Non-literary• Religious/sacred texts

Multimodal translation• Screen translation• Comics, cartoons• Web localisation

Oral interpreting• Mode: simultaneous, consecutive, liaison, chuchotage• Context: conference, business, community, court

Sign language interpreting

Range of activities

• Textual Products

• Social/Literary/Political Impact

• Agendas of Agents (inc. Institutions)

• Cognitive and material constraints

• History of Translator-& Interpreter-Mediated Events

Scope

?Research questions Description

(cfr prescription)

Interdiscipline

Long established translation practice

vs recent academic

discipline

The official birth of TS

James S. Holmes (1924- 1986), Dutch-based US scholar

• 1972 paper (widely available in 1988) The Name and Nature of Translation Studies

• Founding statement in the field (Gentzler 2001: 93) TS described as the discipline concerned with

“the complex of problems clustered round the phenomenon of translating and translations”

• discipline finally defined Translation Studies

(cfr earlier “translatology”, “translation theory”)

The map of Translation Studiesfrom The Name and Nature of Translation Studies (1972)

The map of TS – Applied branch

Applied

Translator training

Translation aids

Translation criticism

Teaching evaluation methods

Testing techniques

Curriculum design

CAT tools Dictionaries

Revision

Machine translation

Translation software

Online databases

Use of internet

GrammarsEvaluation

of translations

Reviews

ReferencesBaker, M. (1998/2001) Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, London & New

York: Routledge

Baker, M. (1992/2011) In Other Words: Coursebook on Translation. London & New York: Routledge

Catford, J.C. (1964) A linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Oxford University Press

Frawley, W. (1984) ‘Prolegomenon to a theory of translation’, in Frawley, W. (ed.) Translation: Literary, Linguistic, and Philosophical Perspectives, London & Toronto: Associated University Presses

Gentzler, E. (2001) Contemporary Translation Theories, London & New York: Routledge

Holmes, J. S. (1972/1988) The Name and Nature of Translation Studies, in Holmes, J. S. Translated! Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 67–80.

Munday, J. (2001) Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications. London & New York: Routledge

References

Pym, A. (2010) Exploring Translation Theories, London & New York: Routledge

Shuttleworth, M. & M. Cowie (1997) Dictionary of Translation Studies, Manchester: St. Jerome

Toury, G. (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies - and beyond, Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Venuti, L. (1995) The Translator’s Invisibility, London & New York: Routledge

Venuti, L. (2000/2004) The Translation Studies Reader, London & New York: Routledge

Vermeer, H. (1987) ‘What does it mean to translate?’, Toury. G. (ed.) Translation Across Cultures, New Delhi: Bahri Publications