Translation and Intercultural Communication

Course title: Translation and Intercultural Communication
Instructor: Dr. Snježana Veselica Majhut
ECTS credits: 5
Language: English and Croatian
Semester: 1st and 3rd term of graduate studies
Status: elective
Form of instruction: two  lectures and one seminar per week + e-learning
Assessment: continuous assessment components (50 per cent)  and a term paper (50 per cent)

OBJECTIVES: After finishing this course the students should  be able to: detect underlying  socio-cultural components of a text and deploy strategies for their most appropriate transposition; analyze the intercultural components of a text in the light of theoretical models and concepts; analyze and deploy various strategies in order to translate a text in a manner that respects cultural conventions; justify translation choices while maintaining a critical distance.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course addresses the following themes: various concepts of culture and their relevance for translation; intercultural competence; applicability of functionalist approaches to translation; text types and genres; culture-specific features of text types and their implications for translation; analysis of concrete text types; the impact of the implied reader on the translator’s decisions; coherence and cohesion of the source and target text.

MODE OF INSTRUCTION:
The course combines lectures and seminar work (2+1). The students are expected to read the literature before the lectures and participate in seminar discussions (both in class and in the virtual environment on http://omega.ffzg.hr/ (Moodle). The students are also expected to apply the acquired knowledge in assessed written assignments (analysis of the selected aspects of source and targets texts, commentaries on the advantages and disadvantages of certain strategies in particular communicative situations, etc.) and a term paper.  

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Regular attendance, preparedness for class, active participation in class and in e-learning, regular submission of assessed assignments. The final grade is based on the continuous assessment of particular course elements (attendance, active participation in class and in e-learning, timely submission of assessed assignments) and the term  paper.

OBLIGATORY READING:
Gambier, Y. 2013. “Genres, text-types and translation” in Handbook of Translation Studies. vol. 4: pp. 63–69

Hatim, B. 2009. “ Translating text in context“ in Munday, J. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies. New York: Routledge.

Hatim, B. and Munday, J. 2004. Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge. (selected chapters)

Kelly, D. 1998.  “The translation of texts from the tourist sector: textual conventions, cultural distance and other constraints”.Trans: Revista de Traductologia. no. 2 (1998)
(DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24310/TRANS.1998.v0i2.2354

Trosborg, A. (ed.) 1997. Text Typology and Translation. John Benjamins Publishing (selected chapters)

ADDITIONAL READING:
Hatim, B. and Mason, I. 2005. The Translator as Communicator. London/New York: Routledge

Katan, D. 2009. “Translation as Intercultural Communication” in in Munday, J. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies. New York: Routledge.

Katan, D. Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators https://www.academia.edu/7397391/14818510

Nord, C.  2000.  “Training Functional Translators”. Cadernos de Tradução.  ISSN 2175-7968, Florianópolis, Brasil.DOI: https://doi.org/10.5007/%25x

Tomozeiu, D., Koskinen, K. and D’Arcangelo, A. 2017.  (eds.)  Intercultural Competence for Translators. New York: Routledge (selected chapter ).

 

WEEK BY WEEK SCHEDULE

Week Topic
1 Introduction. Various concepts of culture and their relevance for translators. Discussion.
2 Intercultural competence. The importance of intercultural competence for translators.
3 The main principles of functionalist approaches to translation.
4 Applicability of functionalist approaches to concrete translation tasks.
5 Text types and genres.
6 Text coherence and cohesion.
7 Consolidation.
8 Culture-specific features of text types.
9 Culture-specific features of text types.
10 Analysis of text-type norms and conventions  in tourist brochures.
11 Analysis of strategies of translating “realia” in selected text types.
12 Analysis of text-type norms and conventions  in culinary texts.  
13 Analysis of text-type norms and conventions  in self-help literature.
14 Consolidation.
15 Feedback on term papers. Student feedback on the course.

 

 

Pragmatics-archive

Course title: Pragmatics
Instructor: Mateusz-Milan Stanojević
ECTS credits: 5
Language: English
Semester: 9th (winter)
Status: elective
Form of Instruction: 1 lecture + 2 seminars per week
Examination: written
Course description: This course deals with various issues in pragmatics, such as illocution and perlocution, various types of communicative interaction, speech acts, text functions, etc., with special emphasis on their relevance in the translation process.
Objectives: The aim of this course is for the students to acquire basic theoretical competences in pragmatics, and skills to recognize pragmatic issues in practice. This will enable them to develop skills to recognize various pragmatic notions in stretches of speech, and deal with them in translation.

Week Topic
1 Introduction, syllabus, definition of pragmatics
2 Functions of language. The goals of translation.
3 Context and background knowledge: general issues. Cultural differences and translation: examples.
4 Context and background knowledge in written and spoken texts: presupposition. A cultural view of presupposition in translation.
5 Context and background knowledge: cohesion and coherence. Manipulating cohesion and coherence for pragmatic effect.
6 Context and background knowledge: deixis. Social deixis and the T/V distinction in Croatian and English. Translational issues.
7 Politeness. Positive and negative face. Differences between Croatian and English. Translational issues.
8 Revision
9 Speech acts: background. Felicity conditions. Possible consequences for translation.
10 Speech acts and society. A cross-cultural view: finding differences between English and Croatian.
11 The cooperative principle: background. Theory and examples of maxims. Flouting and violating maxims.
12 The cooperative principle: examples and their translation.
13 Textual differences: achieving pragmatic effect in different types of text. Pragmatic effect and functions of language: recognition and translation. Examples, discussion, problems.
14 Discourse analysis, pragmatics and culture. The translator as a cultural mediator.
15 Revision.

 

Areas of the Translation Profession

SYLLABUS
Course title: Areas of the Translation Profession
Instructors
: Vinko Zgaga
, Dr. Kristijan Nikolić
ECTS credits: 5
Status: mandatory
Semester: 3rd
Enrollment requirements: The students must pass the exam in either Political and Legal Institutions in Croatia and English Speaking Countries  or EU and International Organizations prior to enrolling in this course.
Course description: The course is designed to familiarize students with two major areas of the translation profession, which are not covered in other courses: translation for the audiovisual media (TV subtitling) and literary translation. The students learn about professional norms and practices, as well as about various translation skills and strategies typical of particular professional context or text type. The course further deals with the following issues: the stages of the translation process, quality assurance, rates, deadlines, different statuses and job profiles, etc. The students meet experienced translators, who tell them about work requirements and specific features of particular types of translation. The students engage in realistic translation assignments. 
Objectives: The central objective of this course is to help students learn about translation for the audiovisual media and literary translation. By the end of the course students should be familiar with main professional norms and practices in Croatia, and have the basic skills to work in these two areas of the translation profession.
Course requirements: The students are required to attend regularly and to submit their translation assignments on time. They should be prepared to work both independently and in teams. The final mark is based on the end-of-term translation assignment.
Week by week schedule (the order of topics may vary):

Session Topics
1 Introduction. Course description, goals and requirements.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 Translation for the audiovisual media – introduction.
Subtitling for television:
Specific features of TV subtitling.
Getting to know the basic tools of the trade.
Norms of the profession. Situation on the Croatian market. Key employers.
Working with language revisers.
Realistic translation assignments.
Discussion and feedback.
3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 Literary translation – introduction.
Translation of contemporary novels / short stories: Assignments, discussion, feedback.
Translation for the theatre. Specific features.
Assignments, discussion, feedback.
Norms of the profession. Situation on the Croatian market. Guest translators.
Working with publishers, editors, language revisers, proof-readers, dramaturges.
28, 29 Work on end-of-term assignments.
30 Feedback.

Reading:
– Landers, Clifford E. 2001. Literary translation: A Practical Guide. Frankfurt: Multilingual Matters.
– Ivarsson, Jan. 1992. Subtitling for the Media: A Handbook of an Art, Stockholm: Transedit.
– Díaz Cintas, Jorge & Remael, Aline. 2007. Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling.Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
– Gambier, Yves, ur. 2003. Screen Translation. The Translator Special Issue 9(2). Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
– De Linde, Zoe & Kay, Neil. 1999. The Semiotics of Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
– Venuti, Lawrence (ur.). 2000. The Translation Studies Reader. London i New York: Routledge.
– Qvale, Per. 2003. From St. Jerome to Hypertext. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
– Venuti, Lawrence. 1995. The Translator’s Invisibility. London i New York: Routledge.
– Davies, Kathleen. 2001. Deconstruction and Translation. Manchester: St. Jerome.
– Flotow, Louise von. 1997. Translation and Gender. Translating in the ‘Era of Feminism’. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.

Cognitive linguistics and translation

Course title: Cognitive linguistics and translation
Course coordinator
: Mateusz-Milan Stanojević
Instructors
: Mateusz-Milan Stanojević; Milena Žic Fuchs; Janja Čulig Suknaić
ECTS credits: 5
Language
: English and Croatian
Semester
: 3rd (winter)
Status: compulsory for students studying translation as a single major, elective for students studying translation as a double major program
Form of Instruction: 1 lecture and 2 seminars per week
Prerequisites: students enrolled in the 3rd semester, completed course in the Translation Theory
Examination: written
Course contents: This course deals with selected issues in translation theory from the point of view of cognitive linguistics. The theoretical background is established by comparing and contrasting the communicative translation theory with the cognitive linguistic theory of translation. The course focuses on cognitive linguistic notions which are crucial in establishing translation equivalence (figure-ground, conceptual metaphor, categorization, etc.), exemplifying the way in which they function in translation, with an emphasis on English and Croatian. Particular attention is given to translating grammar and translating culture.
Objectives: The aim of this course is to introduce students to theoretical and practical translational issues which are related to a cognitive-linguistic view of language. This will enable students to recognize potential translation problems, especially with regard to English and Croatian as source and target languages.

Required reading:
Tabakowska, E. 1993. Cognitive Linguistics and Poetics of Translation. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag

Additional reading:
– Croft, W and Cruse, D. A. 2004. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
– Ivir, V. 1981. Formal correspondence vs. translation equivalence revisited. Poetics Today. 2: 51-59
– Ivir. V. 1987. Functionalism in contrastive analysis and translation studies. Functionalism in Linguistics, ed. By Dirven, René and Vilém Fried, 471-481. Amsterdam/Philadeplhia: John Benjamins.
– Ivir, Vladimir. 1991-1992. On the non-algorithmic nature of translation theory. Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia. 36-37: 85-91.


Continue reading Cognitive linguistics and translation

Pragmatics

Course title: Pragmatics
Instructors: Dr. Mateusz-Milan Stanojević; Dr. Marina Grubišić
ECTS credits: 5
Language: English
Semester: 3rd (winter) term of graduate studies
Status: elective
Form of Instruction: 1 lecture + 2 seminars per week
Examination: written
Course description: This course deals with issues in pragmatics, particularly locution, various types of communicational interaction, speech acts, text functions, deixis and the relationship between pragmatics, semantics and syntax. Some areas are illustrated with examples of recent research in pragmatics. Particular emphasis is given to student participation and finding everyday examples of pragmatic phenomena.
Objectives: The
aim of this course is to enable students to acquire the basic pragmalinguistic notions on the theoretical and practical level. Upon the completion of the course, the students will be able to read pragmatic research, will be able to set up basic pragmatic research and will be able to recognize a variety of pragmatic phenomena in everyday communication, which can serve as the basis of reflection on their own communicative skills.

Literature:
Compulsory:
Huang, Yan. 2007. Pragmatics. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
– Cutting, J. 2008. Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge.

Additional:
Austin, J.L. (1962) How to Do Things with Words, Cambridge, Massachusetts
– Levinson, Stephen C. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
– Ivanetić, N. (1994) Govorni činovi, Zavod za lingvistiku, Zagreb
Searle, J.R. (1969) Speech Acts. An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, Cambridge

Week Topic
1 Introduction, syllabus, definition of pragmatics
2 Functions of language. The goals of translation.
3 Context and background knowledge: general issues. Cultural differences and translation: examples.
4 Context and background knowledge in written and spoken texts: presupposition. A cultural view of presupposition in translation.
5 Context and background knowledge: cohesion and coherence. Manipulating cohesion and coherence for pragmatic effect.
6 Context and background knowledge: deixis. Social deixis and the T/V distinction in Croatian and English. Translational issues.
7 Politeness. Positive and negative face. Differences between Croatian and English. Translational issues.
8 Revision
9 Speech acts: background. Felicity conditions. Possible consequences for translation.
10 Speech acts and society. A cross-cultural view: finding differences between English and Croatian.
11 The cooperative principle: background. Theory and examples of maxims. Flouting and violating maxims.
12 The cooperative principle: examples and their translation.
13 Textual differences: achieving pragmatic effect in different types of text. Pragmatic effect and functions of language: recognition and translation. Examples, discussion, problems.
14 Discourse analysis, pragmatics and culture. The translator as a cultural mediator.
15 Revision.

Lexicology and Lexicography (archive)

Course title:  Lexicology and Lexicography
Summer
term 2012-2013
ECTS  
5 points
Course convenor
: Professor Milena Žic Fuchs
Lecturer
: Vlatko Broz
Language
: English
Term
:  First term of graduate studies
Requisites:
Attending this course does not require any requisites, except being enrolled in the term in which the course is given.
Course format:
2 lecture classes and 2 seminar classes a week
Objective:  Gaining an insight into the fundamental concepts from lexicology and their application in lexicography
Contents:  The course focuses on the lexical system of language, studying the word as the basic unit of a language. Various theoretical frameworks are covered relevant to dictionary makers and users. The first part of the course deals with morphology and word formation, while the second part of the course deals with phraseology.

Syllabus

Week Topic
1 Introduction to lexicology: Word. Lexeme. Morphology, Semantics, Etymology. Introduction to lexicography.
2 Word Formation I: Inflection and derivation.
3 Word Formation II: Compounding, conversion, reduplication, backformation.
4 Word Formation III: Diminutives, clipping, abbreviations and acronyms, coinage, neologisms, nonce-words, nonsense words.
5 Word Formation IV: Onomatopoeic words, eponyms, borrowing
6 Diachrony: Sources of English vocabulary
7 Diachrony: Semantic change (metaphor, metonymy, specialization, generalization)euphemisms, false friends
8 Phraseology: Idioms. Traditional and modern approaches.
9 Phraseology: Idioms and idiomaticity. Metaphor, metonymy and idioms.
10 Phraseology: Idioms and formulaic language. Proverbs, binomials etc.
11 Phraseology: Current research.
12 Phraseology: Phrasal verbs.
13 Lexicography I:  Key elements of dictionaries. Definition. Usage.
14 Lexicography II: The corpus in lexicography. Dictionary Making.Types of dictionaries. The origin of dictionaries. History of dictionaries.
15 RevisionExam

Class methods and procedures: Students should regularly attend classes and participate in class discussions. Seminar paper has to be submitted in the first week of January.

Evaluation:   
Exam  70 %
Seminar papers  30 %  (3,000-4,000 words)

Literature:
– Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2002). An Introduction to English Morphology. Edinburgh University Press

– Halliday, M.A.K and Colin Yallop (2004). Lexicology. A Short Introduction. London: Continuum
– Harley, Heidi (2006). English Words. A Linguistic Introduction.
– Jackson, Howard and Etienne Ze Amvela (2000). Words Meaning and Vocabulary. An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. London: Continuum
– Jackson, Howard (2002). Lexicography: An Introduction.  Routledge
– Katamba, Francis (1994). English Words, Structure, History, Usage Routledge
.- Lipka, Leonhard (2002). English Lexicology. Tübingen: Narr
– Landau, Syndey (1984). Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography. Cambridge University Press
– Plag, Ingo (2003). Word Formation in English. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge University Press