RUSS 370 - Literary Translation

The seminar will combine a study of translation theory with a workshop format, providing space for each student to develop a sustained translation project over the course of the semester. Our work will comprise weekly discussions of ongoing drafts, peer review and multiple revisions. Students may work on a genre of their choice, although particular emphasis will be placed on translations of poetry. In addition to creative practice, students will be introduced to the foundations of translation studies as a major field of humanistic enquiry. We will discuss select works of translation theory (Benjamin, Jakobson, Steiner, Spivak, Apter), examine salient case-studies in the history of translation (Beckett’s Rimbaud, Celan’s Mandelstam, Spicer’s Lorca, Carson’s Sappho) and read reflections by distinguished practitioners of the art (Jorge Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Lydia Davis). Bridging theory and praxis, we will seek both to resist the idea of the literary work as trapped in its monolingual nature and also to attend to the limits of “world literature” as a utopian project of modernity. Other assignments include oral presentations, a brief final essay and a conference report. All readings and discussions are in English. An additional weekly session will be scheduled for students taking the course for Russian credit.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): For Russian credit: RUSS 212 or equivalent.

For literature credit: Two years of college-level foreign language study or equivalent of intermediate-level reading proficiency in a language other than English. Instructor’s consent required for languages not taught at Reed.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 370
Notes: Conducted in English. Students meet in extra sessions with readings and discussions in the original language. Students with intermediate-level reading proficiency in all languages are welcome. Readers and learners of Russian, German and French are especially encouraged to enroll.
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a non-English language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a non-English language, or works of the visual or performing arts).