Advanced French: Introduction to Translation

Catalog description

What is translation, after all? How is it conceived, performed, received, and enjoyed, and what characterizes the translational connections between the French and English languages in particular? These are among the questions that will guide our initiatory journey into the theory and practice of translation, with French serving as both a source and a target language. We will pay special attention to forms of translation that are inherently experimental and (re)creative. Students will engage in – and comment on – translations of a wide range of materials (literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, songs, children’s literature, and more) and reflect on practical and ethical issues in the contemporary translation world, from the role of generative AI to debates surrounding identity politics and translator representation. We will also come to understand translation as a unique mode of close reading. The course thereby aims to deepen students’ French proficiency and broaden their idiom, but also to enhance their interpretative and critical skills in both French and English.