82018 - Translation for the Publishing Industry (German)

Learning outcomes

The student - knows the strategies, techniques, traditional and state-of-the-art tools and methods used in specialized translation tasks - is able to apply them to the translation of texts for the publishing industry from different genres and text types, from German into Italian, meeting specific translation briefs and respecting the communicative functions of the source texts - knows the main techniques required for information mining, drafting, editing and revising texts, including the overall quality evaluation of the translated text.

Course contents

The objective of this course is to raise broad awareness of the rhetorical and expressive strategies peculiar to essay writing, newspaper commentaries, business communication and literature, going beyond similar contents already dealt with in previous courses. Students will be required to write texts for publishing purposes with a high formal and rhetorical tone of voice. In particular, the focus will be placed on argument reconstruction in essay writing and on the issue of creativity in translation. The text types considered will include reportage and high-quality scientific dissemination, along with a focus on the narration strategies of contemporary literary production.

Readings/Bibliography

Eco, U., (2003) Dire quasi la stessa cosa, Milano, Bompiani

Jiři Levy, (1969) Die Literarische Übersetzung, Athenäum, Frankfurt/M

Meschonnic H., (2007) Éthique et politique du traduire, Lagrasse, Verdier

Kautz, Ulrich (2002): Handbuch Didaktik des Übersetzens und Dolmetschens. München: Iudicium.

Nord, Christiane (2009): Textanalyse und Übersetzen.Theoretische Grundlagen, Methode und didaktische Anwendung einer übersetzungsrelevanten Textanalyse.Heidelberg: Groos.

Stolze, Radegundis (2011): Übersetzungstheorien. Eine Einführung.Tübingen: Narr.

Menin R., (1996 ) Teoria della traduzione e linguistica testuale,Milano, Guerini, (per uno studio specifico della coerenza discorsiva applicata alla traduzione)

Beaugrande, Dressler, (1984) Introduzione alla linguistica testuale,Bologna, Mulino,

Snell-Hornby, Mary et al.(2003) Handbuch Translation, Tübingen Stauffenburg-Verl.

 

Teaching methods

The course will be taught as a hands-on workshop on a real translation project. Students will be working on projects comparable with actual professional assignments. Text types will include essays, newspaper reports, corporate press folders, and critical reviews for museum communication. Scientific texts about history of art will be translated into Italian, taking catalogues and essays as a reference base. The theoretical aspects of translation as a cross-cultural process will also be highlighted.

Assessment methods

Every week, a translation task will be assigned which will be individually corrected by the lecturer to provide students with continuous feedback on their progress. The final examination will be based on a translation package similar to an actual professional translation job

Teaching tools

Main general and specialized electronic dictionaries provided by the lecturer, overhead projector with PC connection and wi-fi connection. In particular, online information mining resources will be available with the possibility of creating ad hoc corpora. Most teaching resources will be available via the dropbox platform.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Menin