COMPARATIVE HISTORY AND THEORY OF TRANSLATION

The course falls within the basic curriculum of the MA degree in Interpreting and Translation for Editorial and Specialised Purposes. It aims to provide students with sound theoretical knowledge of translation theory and translation studies both in the West and in China from a comparative perspective, as well as to improve their skills in the reflection on translation and its practical applications. Therefore, the course aims to develop the knowledge of the principles of translation theorizing in its various forms and fields of application.

By attending and taking part in the activities of the course, the students will be able to achieve the following results:

1. Knowledge and understanding
1.1. Knowing the basic theoretical principles of the reflection on translation
1.2 Knowing the theoretical and methodological principles of a selection of representative schools and approaches in Western and Chinese translation studies
1.3 Knowing the specific terminology of the various schools of translation studies

2. Applying knowledge and understanding
2.1 Being able to correctly apply the theoretical principles of translation studies to a translation project according to its specific features
2.2 Being able to correctly use the terminology of translation studies in all the processes of application and communication of the knowledge acquired

3. Making judgements
3.1 Being able to formulate and justify hypotheses in the reflection on translation, developing a critical approach to the assessment of alternative hypotheses
3.2 Being able to critically comment on the reflection on translation applied to a specific translation project

4. Communication skills
4.1 Being able to effectively present a reflection on translation according to the specific features of the project and its recipients

5. Learning skills
5.1 Being able to critically use the recommended reference works and the bibliography indicated therein

A good knowledge of the Chinese language and an advanced proficiency in the English language (vocabulary and syntactic structures) achieved thanks to the language courses attended as part of a BA in Chinese studies.

In this course a number of prominent schools and theories in Western and Chinese translation studies will be presented, in order to point out their theoretical and methodological principles from a comparative perspective as well as their domains of application. Special attention will be devoted to the reflection on translation and the translation commentary in view of the preparation of the MA thesis, stimulating discussion on the theoretical problems linked to the translation commentary and on the most effective strategies adopted to solve them.

Required readings will be indicated in due time and uploaded to the Moodle platform. However, students are encouraged to use the following texts for their general reference:

CHAN Leo Tak-hung (2004). Twentieth Century Chinese Translation Theory: Modes, Issues and Debates. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
HATIM Basil (2012). Teaching and Researching Translation (2nd ed.). London and New York: Routledge.
OSIMO Bruno (2002). Storia della traduzione. Riflessioni sul linguaggio traduttivo dall’antichità ai contemporanei. Milan: Hoepli.
VALDEÓN Roberto A. (2019). Chinese Translation Studies in the 21st Century. Current Trends and Emerging Perspectives. London and New York: Routledge.
WEI Weixiao (2019). An Overview of Chinese Translation Studies at the Beginning of the 21st Century. London and New York: Routledge.

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Attending students will be required to write an individual report or log entry addressing one of the leading questions indicated by the instructor and connected to the topic of the previous class (two bonuses are included): the regular submission of the reports/log entries is required in order to be admitted to the final exam. The final exam consists of an Italian- or English-language paper focusing on a topic related to those addressed during the main course and agreed upon with the teacher, to be submitted to the instructor not later than 15 days prior to the exam date. The paper will be accompanied by an oral presentation. The final grade will be structured as follows: report/log entry 3/30 points, paper + oral presentation 27/30 points.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Non-attending students will exclusively take the final oral exam, which focuses on the whole course syllabus (based on the study materials uploaded to the Moodle platform) plus an additional text to be assigned by the instructor in due time.

[REMOTE EXAM]

Following health emergency measures, some changes have been made to the exam mode previously indicated in the syllabus.

The final exam of the main course will be held remotely on either Google Meet or ZOOM, and will focus on a brief discussion of the paper previously submitted to the instructor.

The course is taught through stand-up lectures.

Italian

Due to the nature and focus of the course, English and Chinese will be largely used as working languages besides Italian.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development