96657 - TRANSLATION THEORY AND HISTORY

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Forli
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Specialized translation (cod. 9174)

Learning outcomes

The student knows the basic features (terms, concepts) of Translation Theory; s/he knows the historical-theoretical developement of the discipline and is able to evaluate elements of texts’ analysis to be applied to procedures of translation processes, based on a theoretical approach; s/he is able to carry out in depth analyses of written texts in Italian and is able to acquire higher-level metalinguistic knowledge and competences independently, and to apply them to other texts.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to introduce students to some key theories and concepts of Translation Studies. These will be chosen for their relevance to the practical courses students will attend during the degree and to introduce students to translation studies as an academic subject and research practice – so as to prepare them for when they have to write a dissertation.

Readings/Bibliography

For each topic discussed in class students will be provided with relevent reading material via the online Moodle platform, as well as the slides used during the lesson

Teaching methods

The lessons will be in lecture format but with a lot of space devoted to discussion, both of the concepts tackled in the lessons and of the reading material provided.

The course will be conducted in English. In accordance with the degree programme requirements, students must attend at least 70% of lessons.

Assessment methods

The final assessment consists of a written exam. During the exam students will be asked to write a short essay on a topic they have chosen themselves and prepared using the reading material supplied by the course leader.

The exam will be held online.

The purpose of the exam is to test the students’ capacity to discuss translation appropriately and effectively from a theoretical point of view, using the concepts addressed during the course. The essays will be evaluated on the basis of their content, not their formal characteristics.

The overall vote of the integrated course on THEORY AND LINGUISTICS FOR TRANSLATORS will be calculated as an average of the two modules of the course: Translation Theory and History (Rundle) and Text Lingusitics (Mazzoleni).

Grading scale for Translation Theory Exam

29-30L: The candidate possesses an in-depth knowledge of the topic, an outstanding ability to apply theoretical concepts, a high level of argumentative clarity, as well as excellent analytical skills, and a well-developed ability to synthesize and establish interdisciplinary connections.

27–28: The candidate possesses an in-depth knowledge of the topic, a sound ability to apply theoretical concepts, good analytical skills, clear argumentative clarity and an ability to synthesize.

24-26: The candidate possesses a fair knowledge of the topic, a reasonable ability to apply theoretical concepts correctly and present ideas clearly.

21-23: The candidate possesses an adequate, but not in-depth, knowledge of the topic, a partial ability to apply theoretical concepts, and acceptable presentation skills.

18-20: The candidate possesses a barely adequate and only superficial knowledge of topic, limited presentation skills, and only an inconsistent ability to apply theoretical concepts.

< 18: Fail. The candidate possesses an inadequate knowledge of the topic, makes significant errors in applying theoretical concepts, and shows weak presentation skills.

Teaching tools

  • The readings supplied each week by the course leader.
  • An introduction to the use of the online research tools made avaiable by the university.
  • An introduction to the use of reference management tools such as Zotero.

Office hours

See the website of Christopher Rundle