CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LITERATURE AND TRANSLATION

According to the Dublin descriptors, the Course intends to pursue the following aims:

1) Knowledge and Understanding

This course intends to present students with the main historical and literary trends of contemporary Britain, as well as the main theories of literary translation. The activities that will be carried out on the texts which are included in the syllabus will enhance their knowledge and comprehension skills. 

2) Applying Knowledge and Understanding

A considerable part of the course will be dedicated to close reading activities, which will help students to develop their literary appreciation tools, also to apply their knowledge of contemporary British culture.

As regards module B, it will give them the opportunity to apply their knowledge of the founding principles of literary translation to the practical activities that will be carried out in class.  

3) Making Judgement

Close reading activities will promote students’ ability to make judgement, also to establish stylistic and thematic relations among the texts included in the syllabus.

4) Communication Skills

Text analysis activities, as well as exchanges on the chosen texts will enhance students’ comprehension and communication skills.

5) Learning Skills

Students will develop a deeper awareness of their learning skills, which will result in a more mature and autonomous approach to literary texts.    

Though not compulsory, attendance to the lessons is highly recommended.      

This 54-hour course will be divided into two modules. Both Module A, Literary Currents and Voices in Contemporary Times (5 ECTS), and Module B, Literary Translation: Theories and Practices (4 ECTS), will be held in English. 

Module A –  Literary Currents and Voices in Contemporary Times (5 ECTS)

This module will mostly be based on text-analysis activities. Every author and extract will be connected to four distinctive topics. In this way, it will be easier to value their contribution to the development of the main literary genres and trends:

1.   After Queen Victoria: Social Unrest, Feminism and WWI 

John Galsworthy, Strife. A Drama in Three Acts (1908)

Mina Loy, Feminist Manifesto (1914)

Sigfried Sasson, Glory of Women (1917-1918)

2.   Modernist Representations of the City  

Katherine Mansfield, The Garden Party (1922)

Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925)

3.   Winds of War: Melancholy and Sorrow

Stephen Spender, I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great (1933)

Edith Sitwell, Still Falls the Rain (1942)

Keith Douglas, Aristocrats (1943-1946)

4.   After 1945: Depicting a Bleak World   

William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)

Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange (1962)

Harold Pinter, Betrayal (1978)

C.A. Duffy, Translating the English (1989)

Ian McEwan, Black Dogs (1992)

Sarah Kane, Crave (1998)

Module B – Introduction to Literary Translation: Theories and Practices (4 ECTS)

The aim of this module is to illustrate the main theories in the field of Literary Translation and to engage students in a series of practical activities. In particular, they will discuss some specific case studies and will translate a series of contemporary literary texts both individually and in group.

These contemporary literary texts will cover the main genres: fiction, verse and drama.   

Module A – Literary Currents and Voices in Contemporary Times (5 ECTS)   

1.   History of English Literature: Contemporary Times

Recommended Handbook

Sanders Andrew, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, London, O.U.P., 2004, pp. 505-640.

2.   Primary Texts

The above-mentioned extracts and texts will be given in PPT/PDF form and uploaded on Studium.

3.   Methodology and Literary Terms

Cuddon John Anthony, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, London, Penguin (Latest ed. – The complete list of relevant terms will be available on Studium).

Or

Fowler Roger, A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms, London, Routledge, (Latest ed. – The complete list of relevant terms will be available on Studium).

Module B – Introduction to Literary Translation: Theories and Practices (4 ECTS)

1.   Primary Texts

Students will be given a series of contemporary literary texts covering the three main genres: prose, verse and drama. They will be given either in Italian, so that the translator’s choices can be discussed, or in the original. In this latter case, all the activities will be carried out in class.

All the texts (max 20 pages) will be uploaded on Studium.  

2.   Methodology

- Bassnett Susan, Translation Studies, Fourth Edition, London and New York, 2014, pp. 88-140 (Ch. 3 “Specific Problems of Literary Translation”). 

- Washbourne Kelly and Ben Van Wyke (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation, London and New York, 2019, pp. 8-22, 72-81, 206-217, 268-279, 298-309 (Ch. 1, “The Limits and Forms of Literary Translation”, Ch. 5 “Theory and Literary Translation Practice”, Ch. 13, “Prose Fiction”, Ch. 17, “Poetry”, Ch. 19 “Theatre”).   

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).