Course No: 350: 663
Index #: 12044
Distribution Requirement: A5, B, C
Monday - 12:10 p.m.
MU 207
A World to Gain: Translation / World Lit
Ryan Kernan / Rebecca Walkowitz
This seminar will concern itself with the gains of translation. We will focus on three interrelated textual phenomena. First, we will concern ourselves with literature in translation that gains because it engages with prior works in other languages or prior translations. How do works conceived with translated works in mind alter how we think of national literatures, their scopes, and their wellsprings? Second, we will concern ourselves with literature that gains because it has incorporated the structure or concept of translation into its production. How do texts that depend on translation for their political success (like black internationalist texts) or texts that were composed with (their own) translations in mind force us to rethink conceptual categories central to traditional modes of literary interpretation like work, author, period, nation, etc.? Third, we will consider texts that function as works of translation because they are intrinsically multilingual or multi-medial, because they were written in languages that were “foreign,” secondary, or “other” to the writer, or because they operate as a collection of editions in multiple languages. How do literary texts perform the work of translation? What happens when we begin to see texts as unbounded by language? We will be pairing literary works in genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and memoir, and possibly one film, with works of contemporary theory and criticism that are operating at the forefront of translation studies, world literature, and new thinking about the relationship between language, translation, and political solidarity. We will spend our opening weeks familiarizing ourselves with some foundational articles and book excerpts in Translation Studies before diving into texts that prompt us to consider translation not as a secondary act, but as a primary one.
The course assumes no prior knowledge of the field. We'll be focusing on 20c and 21c literary and visual works that were originally composed in Italian, English, Japanese, German, and Spanish, but the class will read the works in English translation.
Assessment: Students are expected to participate in discussion; to complete occasional 1-page reading responses; to give two oral presentations (one of which will be a conference-style presentation of a work in progress); to write an abstract for the final paper; and to complete a substantial final research paper. The final weeks of class will be dedicated to in-class student presentations.
