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

Study level:
Other studies
Grading scale:
Pass - fail
Language:
English
Responsible organisation:
Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication
Curriculum periods:
2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023

Description

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) 

Learning outcomes

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

Completion methods

Method 1

Evaluation 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).
Select all marked parts
Parts of the completion methods
x

Participation in teaching (2 cr)

Type:
Participation in teaching
Grading scale:
Pass - fail
Language:
English

Teaching