A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery: critical reading of Russian texts in translation

Catalog description

In this workshop-style summer intensive, we will perform a close investigation of English translations of selected canonical Russian texts in an attempt to uncover hidden meaning that might have been lost in transit. After a brief overview of socio-cultural, political, and historical factors that inform the process of cross-language and cross-media translation, we will spend a week on each chosen text; we will conduct a close reading of existing English translations and augment our understanding of the Russian originals with the help of other art forms that evolved around them (think: paintings, plays, operas, films). At the end of each week, students will engage in a translation workshop exercise, during which they will attempt to produce their own—well informed—English versions of the selected passages from the Russian .classics. No prior knowledge of Russian is required to participate in this class.