Finding an Audience. Translating Contemporary Polish Dramas 3301-ZJ-JS015
The central problem, says veteran translator Ranjit Bolt, is that "theoretically there is no such thing as translation. Translating a French word will never get its full implications across to the English - it's an impossibility." This is certainly a challenging position to absorb for potential translators of theatrical pieces. But it is a challenge which will be the motto of this course, which will look broadly at the issue of the translation of theatrical works. This approach will include textual analysis, historical and more recent case-studies and assessments of the careers of theatrical translation practitioners. The principle languages will be between Polish and English, but other European languages and their relationship with English and Polish may be considered and incorporated into the course. Of central importance in the course will be the idea of the play finding a home and an appreciative audience in a new culture and in this regard I will be presenting some histories of Irish plays in Poland and elsewhere. Students in turn will be welcome to propose their own case-studies – which may include musicals – for presentation in this regard, all of which will be established early on in the course.
Education at language level B2+."
Topics which will be discussed and taught:
1. Drama in translation as a cultural encounter
2. The voice of the practitioner (translator of drama)
3. Performability
4. Translation strategies for dialogue, lyric, register and cultural specific items
5. Re-location and acculturation
During the course we shall translate and discuss fragments of plays by the following Polish dramatists:
Tadeusz Słobodzianek, Dorota Masłowska, Sławomir Mrożek and Janusz Głowacki.
Other non-Polish playwrights which will feature as topics for discussion and comparison are:
George Bernard Shaw, Martin McDonagh, Sean O’Casey, Dario Fo, Samuel Beckett, Sarah Ruhl, and Tennessee Williams
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
The graduate has in-depth familiarity with:
- K_W01 advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art
in the discipline of translation studies, in accordance with their chosen specialization (and educational path)
- K_W04 concepts and principles concerning the protection of intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
The graduate is able to:
- K_U01 apply the advanced terminology, theories and methods of linguistic research (translation studies) to solve complex and original research problems in accordance with his/her chosen specialization (and educational path)
- K_U04 apply the concepts and principles of intellectual property protection and copyright law
Social competences
The graduate is ready to:
- K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources
- K_K02 recognize the importance of knowledge in solving cognitive and practical problems; consult
experts when required
Assessment criteria
Written assignments, oral contributions, final paper (verification of outcomes: W, U, K).
Bibliography
BAKER, Mona (ed), Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies (London: Routledge, 2001/2005).
BASSNETT, Susan, ‘Ways through the labyrinth: strategies and methods for translating theatre texts’, in Theo Hermans (ed.) The manipulation of literature: studies in literary translation (New York: St. Martin Press, 1984, pp. 87-102).
- ‘Translating for the Theatre: the Case Against Performability’, in TTR: Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction, vol. 4, n° 1 (Montréal: Association Canadienne de Traductologie, 1991: 99-111).
- ‘Still Trapped in the Labyrinth: Further Reflections on Translation and Theatre’ in Susan Bassnett & André Lefevere (ed), Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation (Clevedon/ Philadelphia/ Toronto/ Sydney/ Johannesburg: Multilingual Matters, 1998: 90-108).
CAMERON, Kate, ‘Performing Voices: Translation and Hélène Cixous’ in Carole- Anne Upton (ed), Moving Target: Theatre Translation and Cultural Relocation (Manchester, UK & Northampton, MA: St Jerome Publishing, 2000: 101-112).
De SENNA, Pedro, ‘This Blasted Translation: Or Location, Dislocation, Relocation’ in Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance, vol. 2 n. 3 (Bristol: Intellect Books, 2009: 255-265).
ESPASA, Eva, ‘Performability in Translation: Speakability? Playability? Or just Saleability?’ in Carole-Anne Upton (ed), Moving Target: Theatre Translation and Cultural Relocation (Manchester, UK & Northampton, MA: St Jerome Publishing, 2000: 49-62).
FERNANDES, Alinne Balduino Pires, ‘Between words and silences: Translating for stage and the enlargement of paradigms’ in Scientia Traductionis 7 (2010): 119-133.
KEANE, Barry. Irish Drama in Poland. Staging and Reception 1900-2000 (Bristol: Intellect Ltd, 2016).
SNELL-HORNBY, Mary, ‘Is This a Dagger Which I see Before me? The non-verbal language of drama’ in Fernando Poyatos (ed), Nonverbal Communication and Translation (London: John Benjamins Publishing, 1997: 187-202).
- The Turns of Translation Studies: New Paradigms or Shifting Viewpoints? (Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: Johns Benjamins Publishing, 2006).
VENUTI, Lawrence, The Translator’s Invisibility (London/ New York: Routledge, 1995).
* Important sources will also be e-teatr.pl and miscellaneous reviews from broadsheets and trade press.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: