69574 - Translation from German into Italian II (Second Language)

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Docente: Bruno Persico
  • Credits: 5
  • SSD: L-LIN/14
  • Language: German
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Forli
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation (cod. 8059)

Learning outcomes

The student will get to know the tools (grammars and dictionaries of different types, corpora of parallel and/or comparable texts) and basic translation methods (micro and macro reconstruction, writing and editing of target text) and will be able to apply them in the translation of a variety of even complex texts from German into Italian. She/He can also identify and apply the most suitable basic translation strategies to communication / operational functions of the texts to be translated.

Course contents

The course is aimed to widen the students' linguistic knowledges and translating strategies in order to allow them to acquire professional skills for the translation of essays, fiction and technical-scientific texts. The texts will be analyzed under the supervision of the teacher and according to their linguistic and pragmatic features according to their typology, and the major structural, grammatical and thematic problem of the source text will be highlighted. At the same time, some guidelines will be given for the analysis of parallel texts, highlighting their structural and terminological features of each thematic sector. At this stage, the most appropriate translating strategies will be introduced and applied to the text, as well as some guidelines for a proper use of lexicographical sources, monolingual dictionaries and bilingual and any other reference tools (web pages, parallel texts). Students will be asked to take part in workshops or seminar on subjects which are related to the course contents.

Readings/Bibliography

Translation theory:

Siri NERGAARD, Teorie contemporanee della traduzione, Milano, 1995

Peter NEWMARK, La traduzione: problemi e metodi, Garzanti, Milano, 1988

SUSAN BASSNETT-McGUIRE, La traduzione. Teorie e pratica, Milano,

P. Pasotti, L. Sartirana, Tradurre senza tradire. Guida alla traduzione dal tedesco, Sansoni, Firenze, 1993

Manuals and Grammar:

U. ENGEL, Deutsche Grammatik, Heidelberg, Julius Groos, 1988.

U. ENGEL, Kommunikative Grammatik. Deutsch als Fremdsprache, München, Judicium Verlag, 1993.

W. KOLLER, Einführung in die Übersetzungswissenschaft, 4. Auflage, Wiesbaden, Quelle & Meyer (UTB 819), 1992.

L. RENZI, Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1988

L. SERIANNI, Grammatica italiana, Torino, UTET, 1988

G. WAHRIG, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Gütersloh, Zanichelli/Bertelsmann, 1997

W. MACCHI, Dizionario delle lingue Italiano e Tedesco, voll. I e II, Firenze/Milano, Sansoni, 1998

G. DEVOTO/G.C. OLI, Dizionario della lingua italiana, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1971

B.M. QUARTU, Dizionario dei sinonimi e dei contrari, Milano, Rizzoli, 1994

Texts to be translated:

Text will be handed out by the course teacher.

Teaching methods

Frequency is compulsory for at least 70% of total number of classes (40 hours).

Texts will be introduced by the teacher (author, sector, target readers, destination) and will be analyzed in detail as to its linguistic and structural features as well as cultural elements.

The translation of each text will be prepared by students individually and will be discussed in the following lesson. The Italian text will be finally analyzed as a whole in order to assess textual macrostructures consistency and functional adequacy.
Frontal lessons will alternate with work sessions in groups, within which short translation projects will be carried out.

As concerns the teaching methods of this course unit, all students must attend the online Modules 1, 2 on Health and Safety [https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas].

Assessment methods

The final exam is aimed to assess the achievment of the learning outcomes, expecially the correct use of instruments, methods and translation strategies for that specific kind of text.

The exems consists of a written translation of a text in line with those carried out during the course, with the help of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries (Italian and German) and of other sources from the net (glossaries, parallel texts, terminological banks). The text will contain about 250 words and the students will dispose of 2 hours to complete te thext.

Learning assessment table

30-30 Lode: excellent paper demonstrating excellent acquisition of the expected knowledge as well as language rendering skills demonstrating complete mastery of the target language.

27-29: above average paper, with minor errors or otherwise compensated for by more than adequate demonstration of the knowledge and skills to be acquired.

24-26: good test, but with some issues regarding linguistic performance, completeness of content and management of the communicative situation.

21-23: sufficient test but with noticeable limitations and inaccuracies of form and content in the management of linguistic material, interlingual and intercultural communicative situation and contents of the source text; knowledge and skills to be acquired.

18-20: barely sufficient proof which meets the minimum criteria for the conscious handling of the source text, but shows serious linguistic and communicative gaps and a poor ability to handle the interlingual and intercultural communicative situation; a great deal of knowledge and ability to acquire.

< 18: Insufficient evidence of adequate acquisition of the expected knowledge, skills and abilities. The examination should be retaken.

Teaching tools

Paper and digital dictionaries and glossaries, corpora, web pages, search engines, projector, parallel texts, dictionaries on CD-Rom

Office hours

See the website of Bruno Persico