82045 - Specialized Translation from Chinese into Italian

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

The course will focus on technical legal translation. The following text types will be used:

Certificates

Laws, rules, and regulations

Contracts

Verdicts

Arbitration award

In addition, the course will set the ground for explaining Chinese legal language and its peculiarities, such as:

1: connectives (huozhe, danshi),

2: special constructions (covert passive, ect)

3: dummy verbs (jiayi, yuyi, jinxing, etc)

4: some basic notions of literary Chinese (like the use of suo, the passive with suo and bei/wei, the use of the pronoun qi, the use of yi and ceng as aspectual markers).

The last topic will include explanations of the most common expressions in written Chinese and prosodic syntax.

Students are required to attend lessons, and the attendance rate must be at least 70%.

Readings/Bibliography

Casacchia G., Bai Yukun, Dizionario cinese - italiano. Venezia: Cafoscarina, 2013. (Obbligatorio)

Xiandai hanyu cidian 现代汉语词典. Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2016. (o 2015) (Facoltativo)

Scarpa Federica. La Traduzione Specializzata. Milano: Hoepli, 2008. (Obbligatorio)

Kussmaul Paul. Training the Translator. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1995. (da pagina 105 a pagina 123) (Facoltativo)

Megale Fabrizio. Teoria della Traduzione Giuridica. Fra Diritto Comparato e Translation Studies. Editoriale Scientifica, 2008. (Facoltativo)

Mortara Garavelli Bice, Le parole e la giustizia. Divagazioni grammaticali e retoriche sui testi giuridici italiani. Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2001

Teaching methods

Lessons will generally be interactive. However, given the theoretical nature of some of the topics, there will also be lectures on the grammatical and syntactical issues indicated above.

Assessment methods

The final examination will be a translation of a legal text (700-800 characters) the content of which will be in line with the examples analysed during the course.

The final grade for Specialized Translation between Chinese and Italian will be an average of the mark obtained for Specialized Translation from Chinese into Italian (50%) and the one obtained for Specialized Translation from Italian into Chinese (50%).

Grading scale

30-30L: Excellent level. The candidate possesses excellent translation skills, with a very high level of competence in the target language.

27-29: Above average level. The candidate makes only minor errors, and shows a solid command of the required skills and competences.

24–26: Generally sound level. The candidate displays a number of shortcomings, indicating a reasonable command of the required skills and competences.

21-23: Adequate level. The candidate displays significant shortcomings and only an adequate command of the required skills and competences.

18–20: Minim level. The candidate only meets the minimum level required and shows a minimal command of the required skills and competences.

< 18 Fail: The candidate does not meet the required standard and shows a wholly inadequate command of the required skills and competences.

Teaching tools

Articles and interviews taken from the web

Office hours

See the website of Luca Vantaggiato