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Approaches and Perspectives in MENA Studies (411-0-1)

Topic

Translation Problems

Instructors

Rebecca Johnson
847/467-1365
University Hall 225

Meeting Info

University Hall 418: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Course title: Translation Problems: Coloniality, Resistance, Solidarity

This course aims to give students grounding in postcolonial and decolonial translation studies by focusing on some of the problems embedded in its history and practice: translation's employment in the contexts of war, displacement, and empire; its role in national canon formation and transnational literary circulation amid the hegemonic force of Anglicization; and the importance of translation problems —mistranslation, pseudo-translation, "bad translation," and untranslatability—to projects that we might organize under the sign of "solidarity." We try to account for translation's politics and ethics, that is. We will do so by focusing on important examples of translation theory as well as by using case studies drawn from the history of Arabic-English and Arabic-French translation from the 19th to the 21st century (using work from Algerian, Iraqi, Syrian, and Palestinian authors) and by class visits—funding pending—from working translators. Readings will be provided in English. No knowledge of a foreign language is required, but students with reading knowledge of Arabic or French are particularly welcome. We will work collaboratively and creatively with all of our competencies to further the course goals.