FREN 370 - Translation Workshop

This workshop is an initiation in the art and craft of translation, in this case the language pair French-English. In the first two weeks, students are introduced to the nuts and bolts of translation, including the seven stock-in trade procedures that any translator, knowingly or not, brings to bear on any source language-target language transfer (borrowing, literal translation, calque, modulation, transposition, equivalence, and adaptation). After this theoretical overview, the focus shifts toward practical matters. Thus, true to the collaborative spirit of a community of practitioners, students workshop their projects in class, peer-reviewing and peer-editing their drafts to achieve the best possible outcome within the completion timelines set by the instructor. Using Kerry Lappin-Fortin’s La traduction: un pont de départ (second edition) as our textbook, student assignments will consist of short translations from French into English (versions) or English into French (thèmes), writing exercises, short quizzes, and two exams. Students will also make presentations on translation tools and aids, and their term paper will be in the form of a critical essay introducing their final translation project to a general audience. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level course. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)