Curious About Translation!

COLT 19.06/RUSS 38.27
Decolonizing Translation
2A
Professor Lada Kolomiyets
No prerequisites – Taught in English!
LRP

Course description
The course takes a panoramic view of translation as an ambivalent reflection of the (post)colonial condition. As a "channel of colonization," translation has relied on legal and linguistic manipulations and prohibitions to unleash epistemicide and linguicide. As a form of resistance, translation has channeled emancipatory postcolonial struggles. In this course, we will survey both functions between the 18th to the early 21st century. We will draw on case studies from around the globe, including the Middle East, South, Southeast and Western Asia, South and Central America, Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean, as well as North America, Europe and Eurasia. We'll revisit the relationship between translation, orientalism, world literature, have a closer look at border identities across geographical regions and historical circumstances, reconsider translational imagination and the art of self-translation, and reflect on the gains, loses, misses, and un/translatables in translation.

Learning Outcomes
1) think about and reflect upon the relationship between translation strategies and social orders, the translator's identity and (post)colonial situation, the language of translation and ideology; 2) develop a general understanding of the term "de/colonization" as well as the social background, cultural nature, and perspectives of decolonizing strivings and processes in the field of translation; 3) develop close-reading skills of literary works in translation, with due attention to both their stylistic/poetic form and semantic content; 4) develop an understanding of postcolonial translation theories and practices across geographical regions and historical circumstances; 5) develop original research that can relate a translation to its literary, ideological, and social contexts; 6) develop critical thinking and essay writing skills around the ideas, issues, and challenges of translating literary works from minor languages into English and vice versa;  7) gain experience in translation analysis and the verbal and visual presentation of critical and analytical thinking.