World Literatures 330 - Capstone Seminar in Translation Studies

Same as TSX 330. The capstone seminar brings together a cohort of concentrators to discuss the final translation project that each student undertakes with the guidance of their adviser in the concentration and to situate the project within the framework of larger questions that the work of translation elicits. The seminar readings focus on renowned practitioners’ reflections on the difficulties and complexities of translating, the obstacles, discoveries and solutions that the translator encounters. We read a series of essays that engage with the conflicting interpretations and nuances of translations in 14 languages of Ferdinand Oyono’s iconic 1956 African novel, Une vie de boy. We compare how these translations transform the original novel and question the concept of original text as it interacts with the culture and the language into which it is translated. Students are responsible for presenting essays that focus on the particular challenges of translation that they have encountered

Instructor Permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores