University of Liege | Version française
Academic year 2014-2015Value date : 12/05/2015
HEVL0043-1  Translation exercises, Dutch-French (culture)

Duration :  60h Pr
Number of credits :  
Master en traduction, à finalité spécialisée, 1st year4
Lecturer :  Pierre Geron
Language(s) of instruction :  
French language
Organisation and examination :  
All year long
Course contents :  
Introduction to how cultural products work
Introduction to useful resources and translation strategies
Comparative stylistic analysis of original texts and translated texts Comparative analysis of exemplary translations of one text
Translation exercises based on cultural texts and other cultural products
Learning outcomes of the course :  
At the end of the course students will be able to...
1. approach texts from a dual perspective: combining internal and external analyses will help them determine the general orientation they should give to the translation;
2. identify and activate strategies specific to the field of cultural works that they will be able to apply systematically during the translation process;
3. draw on the various resources that can help them solve problems likely to arise during the translation process and to search for documents providing relevant cultural, encyclopedic and lexical knowledge;
4. come up with alternative translations, making and justifying choices based on sensible criteria.
Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :  
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :  
A whole array of texts and audiovisual documents will be the focus of our attention during these practical translation classes. Here is a non-exhaustive list of possible resources: articles from the culture sections of newspapers and magazines, exhibition catalogues or fliers, guide books, comic strips (S1ngle), columns, essays, letters (Van Gogh), episodes from TV series (S1ngle), (excerpts from) films, TV shows, etc. We may later look at texts with a more explicit literary dimension: short stories, excerpts from novels, poems ... Moreover all the materials selected will give students a taste of the culture of countries where Dutch plays / played a prominent role (Flanders, The Netherlands and the Dutch Antils, Suriname, (Indonesia)).

At the beginning most tasks will be twofold: students will be presented with translated texts with missing paragraphs. First, they will have to analyse the given paragraphs using conceptual tools borrowed from approaches such as comparative stylistic analysis, discourse analysis and pragmatic linguistics, intertextual and cultural text analyses, narratology, etc. Once they have determined the orientation given to the translation, students will have to translate the deleted paragraphs in the manner of the original translation.

In later exercises students will only be provided with the Dutch text and will start the translation from scratch. Yet all the preliminary analysis will have to be performed all the same as students will need to determine the most appropriate orientation (defined as a rank on a transparency scale) before they actually start translating the text. A lot of attention will go as well to the consistency of the target text. Last but not least, the target text will have to convey the intention of both the source text and its author as faithfully as possible.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :  
Face-to-face two-hour weekly classes
Recommended or required readings :  
- Photocopies of the materials studied will be handed out when needed at the different sessions.
- Some documents may also be posted up on e-campus (www.ecampus.ulg.ac.be) or sent by email.
Assessment methods and criteria :  
Students will be expected to ...
1° come to class regularly and thoroughly prepare the weekly assignments - one of which will be assessed (= 10% of the final mark); 2° give an oral presentation on the localisation of websites. This presentation will take place before the whole class (= 15% of the final mark); 3° hand in a portfolio (see below) (= 75% of the final mark);
A few words of explanation about the portfolio : It will consist of two parts: the first section will include a comparative stylistic analysis of a translated text and/or any other cultural product; in the second section students will provide a commented translation of a text and/or another cultural product of their own choice. Deadline: Friday 29 May 2015
Work placement(s) :  
Organizational remarks :  
Depending on the communicative needs Dutch and French will be used interchangeably during classes.
Contacts :  
Pierre GERON Pierre.Geron@ulg.ac.be



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