Fall 2015 schedule
ENGL 233
MWF 1400-1450
Week 1 (2-4 Sept)
Topic: Introduction to literary translation and cultural encounters
Activities: Hands-on activities on the process of literary translation/ applied on student-selected commercially–translated lyric, Thinking about Literary Translation Theories
Assignment: Analyzing short selections from Source Text (ST) and their translations TT from an assigned longer text.
Week 2 (7-11 Sept)
Drop and add until 8 September, 11pm.
Topic: What makes the translated text “resemble” the original ST?
Activities: Amine Rihani, “Dear Reader,” Comparison literal - ST/TT; excerpt from the beginning of the Arabian Nights
Assignment: Application on the assignment from Week 1 to “generate” basic translation criteria.
Week 3 (14-18 Sept)
Introduction to WordPress
Topic: Style: Generating and Customizing Criteria
Activities: Readings - Alf Layla wa Layla, comparison with Burton, Haddawy, Galland
In-class Assignment: Group translation of Yunan and Duban here.
Baddawy’s translation of the Yunan and Duban story here.
Baddawy’s translation of the King Badr and Queen Lab story here.
Weekend assignment: Use you course blog to complete this assignment. Take the group translation of Yunan and Duban. DO NOT REVISE IT IN THE PIRATEPAD. Cut and paste the whole translation into your blog using the citation function (the ” in the toolbar). Pick two sentences as is from the whole class translation and comment how well you thought they were done, using any of the criteria we have discussed so far. Revise the whole paragraph into your own translation (don’t copy Baddawy). Do not aim for perfection, just try to make it a bit better. Make a list of four things you changed and in about 150-200 words, comment on why you changed them. This blog posting should be complete before class on Monday, 21 September.
Week 4 (21, 23 Sept)
Topic: Historical translation; Producing the “same” effect
Activities: Building on Landers’ Twelve Commandments Commentpress
Discussion of early 20th century translation into Arabic: case of Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti
Live wiki first draft of King Badr and Queen Lab here.
Assignment: complete your first wordpress exercise on Yunan/Duban.
Week 5 (28 Sept, 9 Oct) - missing 30 Sept, 2/5/7 Oct
Topic: The value of using words from the original language
Activities: Discussion of Walter Benjamin’s Task of the Translator.
Read first segment of Ibn Jubayr
Assignment: group presentation on the use of Arabic words in the above text
Assignment during missed courses:
- comment on two of Landers 12 Commandments, link here.
- do some research on Ibn Jubayr’s Rihla, Mini group presentations 9 Oct
- in-class writing assignment 7 Oct (passages you have seen, one you have not) - 50 minutes, closed-book
Week 6 (12-16 Oct)
Topic:
Activities:
Assignment:
Week 7 (19-23 Oct)
19 Oct Translation, revision and more revision “Qayloula”
21 Oct presentation, Ibn Jubayr’s description of the Umayyad mosque
23 Oct passages in Ibn Jubayr - passage 1: architectural description and passage 2: religious uncertainty
Week 8 (26-30 Oct)
26 Oct - semester recap, revision of the poem “Qayloula” in a blog posting due by the end of the day.
Instructions: Please copy the Arabic text of “Qayloula” into a blog posting. I would like you to revise the poem in your own language. You can (as McGuire did) keep some of the language of the previous version. Please explain why you made the changes that you did and what style of translation you made (you can refer to the list of theories on this site). Remember that all parts of the poem including the title can be revised. If you would like to insert notes into your posting the easiest way of doing this would be to put a number inside of parentheses after the word in question (1) and to have a set of numbered remarks at the bottom. It goes without saying that your translation of the poem should have some comments about what you think the poem expresses and how your choices as a translator back that interpretation up.
28 Oct - Complete a draft of passage 1 or 2 of Ibn Jubayr from 23 Oct. In-class peer review.
30 Oct - Bayad wa Riyad - love sickness, presentation about Andalusian love poetry
Week 9 (2-6 Nov)
2 Nov NO CLASS. The Anis Makdisi program for Literature at AUB along with some local theological organizations are organizing an international conference on the event of the 150th anniversary of the Arabic Protestant Bible. Please attend one of the lectures in Beirut (Monday) or Mansourieh (Tuesday) and write a blog posting about what you learned. The program is here. There are many lectures you can attend. If you are not free for a lecture, you can tour the exhibit at NEST and write a posting about that.
4 Nov small reports on the lectures you heard; Bayad wa Riyad 2
6 Nov small reports on the lectures you heard; Bayad wa Riyad 3; In class revision Bayad wa Riyad 1 here
Week 10 (9-13 Nov)
9 Nov Bayad wa Riyad
11 Nov OFF
13 Nov 2 presentations, first poem in Bayad wa Riyad
Week 11 (16-20 Nov)
16 Nov, Hammam visits to talk about poetry translation and the Anthem by Anis Makdisi
18 Nov, Guest lecture: Rula Baalbaki on the Anthem
20 Nov, in-class response #2 (everything since last)
Week 12 (23-28 Nov)
23 Nov Bayad wa Riyad 3
25 Nov Anthem 1
27 Nov Anthem 2
Week 13: Workshops on assignment of week 11 (30 Nov-4 Dec)
30 Nov Anthem 3, small text on Makdisi
2 Dec Bayad wa Riyad 3 - individual project
4 Dec Bayad wa Riyad 3 - individual project in form of blog posting
Week 14: Submitting and presenting of projects (7 Dec)
7 Dec final class - presentation of anthem segment on poster
6pm, final presentation of anthem