Course Description and Assessment

 

 

The main objective of this course is to familiarise students with the major topics and texts of translation history and theoretical issues associated with it. It will explore the changing attitudes towards translation and review the different classifications that have been proposed throughout history.

 

Students will be required to read and analyse a selected number of texts on translation theory. Readings are arranged in sections featuring major movements in their historical progression:

 

1) Antiquity (Bible translation, translation of religious texts, word-for-word or sense-for-sense translation)

 

2) The Middle Ages (Toledo School of Translators, translation and the vernacular)

 

3) The Renaissance (Reformation, cultural identity)

 

4) 17th and 18th centuries (national literature, faithfulness and transparency)

 

5) 19th century (non-transparent translation, Schleiermacher)

 

6) 20th century (translation under democratic and dictatorial regimes, translation studies, and new directions).

 

Compulsory reading and tasks along with other relevant documents are available in your google drive folder TranslationHistory 2020.

  

The students will be assessed on oral and written work. They will be asked to make oral and written presentations on the different items of the syllabus and on the selected bibliography.

 

Weighting will be as follows:

 

• oral presentations (50%)

 

• end-term test (30%)

 

• participation in class, commitment, attendance, and punctuality (20%)