XENX1004 Translation as cultural mediation: culture-specific items (2 cr)

Content

This course focuses on the challenge of translating culture-specific items, which refer to concrete or abstract concepts deriving from the culture(s) surrounding a language. Through an assortment of illustrative examples from literary and non-literary texts – such as fiction, children’s literature, movie titles, news reports, or promotional texts –, the main aim of the course is to demonstrate that translation is a process that occurs between cultures rather than languages. We will discuss a range of translation strategies, including general approaches and specific procedures, which translators can employ when translating culture-specific elements (e.g., proper names, food names, everyday objects, holidays, concepts, jokes and puns, idioms, offensive language). Participants will bring examples from their own language(s) and work on a translation project based on a text of their choice.

Assessment criteria

Regular and active participation. Successful completion of the main assignments (project work and group presentation: translating a chosen text and presenting and justifying the decisions made during the translation process) 

On completion of the course, participants are expected to…

• be aware of the role of the translator as a cultural mediator
• be aware of the role of the source and target culture surrounding a text to be translated
• be able to identify culture-specific elements in various literary and non-literary texts
• be familiar with the most common global and local translation strategies
• be able to use translation tools and resources