CHINESE TRANSLATION FOR PUBLISHING

Chinese Translation for Publishing is a course characterizing the Master Degree Program “Translation and Interpreting”. It aims to offer students knowlegde and understanding of the translation process in the field of literary translation.
Combining theory with practical translation, students will be able to employ in practice their theoretical knowledge and their understanding of translation techniques and approaches, which will be useful to solve the problems they might face in their professional life.

Knowledge and understanding:
• understand the main translation theories, problems and techniques in the field of literary translation from Chinese into Italian.
• Knowledge of the main methods used in literary translation as required for publishing
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
• employ in translation practice the theoretical principles presented during the course
• employ in translation practice translation techniques, recognising the most suitable to solve specific translation problems.
Judgement capacity:
• analise literary texts and their language
• evaluate the translation tecniques suitable to the purpose of the translation
• analise translation problems and find the tecniques suitable to solve them
Communication skills:
• presentation of translation by students, who are required to explain and justify in class the choices made in their translation
• write a preface to the translations made by each student during the course
Learning skills:
• connect diffrent fields of study (linguistic e cultural), employing one’s knowledge to the understanding and translation of literary texts.

Intermediate/advanced knowledge of the Chinese language.
For students whose mother-tongue is not Italian, it is also required an intermediate knowledge of the Italian language.

The course will focus both on theoretical and practical issues related to literary texts to be translated from Chinese to Italian for publishing.
Classes will include discussions on translation problems and translating practical activities.
Students will be required to present their own translation during classes.

- La traduzione del cinese. Riflessioni, strategie e tipologie testuali, N. Pesaro (ed.), Milano, Hoepli, 2023. The following chapters require particular attention:
F. Passi, La traduzione per l'editoria, pp. 153-176
N. Pesaro, Traduzione del cinese: dalla parola al discorso, pp. 21-48
M. Gottardo, Tradurre la narrativa moderna e contemporanea, pp. 49-72
C. Bruno, La traduzione del testo poetico: il suono nell’immagine, l’immagine nel suono, pp. 73-97
B. Leonesi, Tradurre il teatro moderno e contemporaneo, 99-125
- Umberto Eco, "Dire quasi la stessa cosa", Milano, Bompiani, 2003.
- Paola Faini, "Tradurre. Dalla teoria alla pratica", Roma , Carocci, 2004.
- Lorenza Rega, "La traduzione letteraria. Aspetti e problemi", UTET, 2001 (chapters 3, 7, and 8).
- P. Magagnin, "Dieci anni di letteratura cinese in Italia. Situazione, ostacoli, prospettive", in Tradurre, n. 16, 2019 (disponibile alla pagina https://rivistatradurre.it/2019/05/dieci-anni-di-letteratura-cinese-in-italia/ )
Please refer to the Moodle page of the course for other titles.

Supplementary reference books:
Chan S.W., Pollard D.E. (eds.) "An Encyclopoedia of Translation", Hong Kong, The Chinese University Press, 1995 (the essays focusing on literary translation)
Pesaro N. (ed.), The Ways of Translation: Constraints and Liberties of Translating Chinese, Venezia, Cafoscarina, 2013.
S. Bassnett, La traduzione. Teorie e pratica, Bompiani, 1993 (in particular chap. 3 "Problemi specifici della traduzione letteraria").

Further suggested readings:
- Laura Bocci, Di seconda mano. Né un saggio, né un racconto sul tradurre letteratura, DMG Edizioni, 2016
Further reading might be suggested during the course.

The Chinese texts to be translated will be available on-line on the teacher's webpage (on Moodle platform).

Suggested Dictionaries:
- Casacchia G. e Bai Yukun, Grande dizionario Cinese-Italiano, IsIAO, Roma 2008, 2 vols.
- Han-ying da cidian - Chinese-English Dictionary, a cura di Wu Guanghua, Shanghai, Shanghai Jiaotong Daxue chubanshe, 1993 or later, 2 vols.

All students, before the final examination, are required to prepare a booklet (in file format or printed out) in the form of a proposal for a publishing house: the proposal will contain all the translations they have prepared during the course, with translator's notes and a translator preface. Their work should comply with commonly accepted editorial rules and should be ready one week before the exam.
In case her/his work is not up to the standard required, the student will be requested to revise and complete it and take the exam in the following exam session.
This work will be counted as part of the final exam.

The final exam is a written translation. Student's will have three hours to complete their translation and will be allowed to use on-line dictionaries (using PC) and electronic dictionaries, in addition to paper dictionaries. No cell phones allowed (unless without SIM card).
The final mark will be the sum of the proposal (10) and the final exam (20).

Classes with active participation by students.

Italian

The rule of all the language/translation exams applies to this course: during the first exam session, students are allowed to take the exam only once.

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