COMP 401
Senior Seminar: The Art of Translation Fall 2012
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

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The famous proverb “traduttore, traditore” (“translator, traitor”) was coined by angry Italian readers in the Renaissance who felt that French translations of Dante betrayed the accuracy or artistry of the original. However, the long-running debate around the validity of this warning points to a complex system of underlying assumptions and questions about the nature of literary art. Can a translator be faithful to an original text while also appealing to readers in the target language? Is literary translation an act of interpretation, explication, obfuscation, betrayal, or even transmutation? This course will explore the art, theory, and practice of translation from several perspectives. We will examine several key works in the history of translation across a range of eras and cultures, with particular attention to approaches that illuminate the intersection between translation and literary analysis, including short readings by Horace, Jerome, Caxton, Luther, Du Bellay, Dryden, Arnold, Benjamin, Buber, Borges, Jakobson, Nabokov, Steiner, Bassnett, Heaney, and others. At the same time, we will investigate the linguistic, cultural, and literary processes involved in the practice of translation through an ongoing workshop format that will incorporate a series of short exercises and a long-term project.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 15
Class#: 1382
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: class participation, short written assignments, and a final translation project
Prerequisites: one upper-level literature course or permission of instructor
Enrollment Preferences: senior Comparative Literature and Literary Studies majors and other advanced students of foreign language and literature
Distributions: Division I

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