Teaching Translation by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Part III

Studying Translation Theory, History, and Practice

15 Translation Theory in a Translator Training Program

Anne Malena and Lynn Penrod

This chapter describes an introductory course in an undergraduate program offering a Certificate in Translation Studies. Designed to complement the various language-specific courses where students actually learn how to translate (between English and several languages, Asian as well as European), this course familiarizes them with the process of translation as well as the basic theoretical issues associated with it. The integration of theory and practice is its primary focus. The foundation for the approach taken here is the notion of equivalence, which is studied at different levels, from lexical to pragmatic, and in relation to various text types, including advertisements, prose fiction, children’s literature, poetry, memoirs, and journalism.

Two basic texts are required for this course: Mona Baker’s In Other Words (2011), which relies on systemic-functional linguistics and pragmatics, and Douglas Robinson’s Becoming a Translator (2012), which surveys translation theories as well as the translation profession, constructing an image of the translation process as simultaneously deliberate and intuitive. Other materials are supplied to students through online links and selected video clips. Although our institutional site is a Canadian university, the course is taught in English. Students must have achieved an intermediate-level competency in at least one other language in order to enroll. The range of other languages varies from year to year for students taking the course as an elective, but certificate students, for whom the course is required, are all enrolled in language-specific translation courses as well.

We start with an introduction to perspectives on translation, a historical overview of translation both as an academic field and as a profession, effectively providing students with an appropriate context for the course. Salient trends are presented and illustrative in-class exercises are assigned. Starting with brief mentions of Cicero and Jerome to explain the long-standing debate about literal versus free translation and moving on to a discussion of the map of the field drawn by James Holmes (Toury 1995: 4), we challenge students to reflect on the link between translation theory and practice. Since most of them still have little knowledge of the skills required to become translators, we ask that they consider the person at the center of the activity of translation—the translator. This focus helps them to identify themselves as future translators and to grasp the idea that theory emerges from practice and that, in spite of the division of labor suggested by Holmes between “pure” and “applied” translation studies, translators need to be aware of the “pure descriptive” side of things, mindful of what (text type), where (culture), when (period and timeline), why (function), and for whom (client and targeted audience) they translate.

To anchor these points in practice, we set two relatively simple exercises. The first is the intralingual translation of a short British text into North American English, which usually generates extensive discussion of regional dialects of English, British, Canadian, and American. The second exercise is the analysis of one sequence from the comic

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