CULTURE AS MEDIATION

This course falls within the characterizing teachings of the courses in "Environmental Humanities" and "Language and Civilization of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".

The objectives of the course
In today’s globalized world, which is characterized by continuous migration movements, translation theories face a twofold situation. On the one hand, the practicing translators and translation studies scholars keep contributing to the advancement of the field both from linguistic and literary points of view. On the other hand, many scholars from such disciplines as environmental studies, sociology, politics, cultural studies, migration studies, diaspora studies and memory studies have begun investigating translational phenomena giving birth to the field of Post-Translation Studies. Taking into consideration the unprecedented success that nowadays Translation studies are enjoying, the present course proposes an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teaching on translation theories in correlation with migration and environmental studies.

The course will contribute to raise the students’ awareness of the translation as translingual phenomenon, which involves the transfer of a text form one signifying form to another; that the translation - besides being a translingual or interlingual process, is an intercultural process as well, and involves the transporting of texts from one historical context to another, migrating of the meanings from one cultural space to another. Finally, the students will raise awareness about the significance of translation for environmental studies.

No prior background in the subject is required.

The course is articulated in two parts.
Part 1 covers theoretical issues, by exploring a myriad of topics within Translation studies theories, including Natural equivalence, Directional equivalence and Skopos theory. Part 2 addresses theories within the newly born Post-Translation Studies, including Eco-translation, Cultural Translation, Translation and Memory (Trauma Literature).

Bhabha, Homi (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge Classics Edition.
Brodzki, Bella (2007). Can These Bones live? Translation, Survival, and Cultural Memory. Stanford University Press.
Cronin, Michael (2016). Eco -Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene. Routledge.
Gentzler, Edwin (2016). Translation and Rewriting in the Age of Post-Translation Studies. Routledge.
Pym, Anthony. Exploring Translation Theories. Routledge, 2010.
Further bibliographical references will be provided during the course.

The course expects homeworks, classroom assignments and problem sets.

Frontal/blended classes of translation theory and practice

English

written and oral