Teaching Literary Translation to Italian Learning Students: Linguistic and Translatological Aspects

Jakimovska, Svetlana (2022) Teaching Literary Translation to Italian Learning Students: Linguistic and Translatological Aspects. In: Language MOOCs and OERs: new trends and challenges, 7-8 Oct 2022, Porto, Portugal. (Submitted)

[thumbnail of LMOOC4Slav_Final Program.pdf] Text
LMOOC4Slav_Final Program.pdf

Download (297kB)
[thumbnail of portugalija.pdf] Text
portugalija.pdf

Download (651kB)

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to present the principal challenges for students studying literary translation from Italian into Macedonian. The challenges are established through an analysis of main mistakes done by Italian learning students when studying literary translation. The noted errors are used as a repertoire for developing key aspects for online literary translation courses. The article is not focused on developing theoretical materials but on closed and open type activities available for MOOC. Suggested solutions are extracted from already translated versions, thus linking translation criticism to the didactics of translation.
The corpus consists of students’ translations of the works by Fallaci, Buzzati, Baricco… Since students have studied Italian for only three years, the encountered mistakes are analysed from both linguistic and translatological perspective.
Linguistic challenges relate to vocabulary mistakes such as the translation of the first or the most widespread meaning of a word or mistakes due to false friends. They also cover problems linked to contrastive linguistics, like the nonexistence of certain grammatical structures in one of the languages leading to inappropriate translation.
Translatological challenges are considered through the prism of Viney and Darbelnet translation techniques theory with special emphasis on paraphrasing. Cultural challenges are analysed through Berman’s and Venuti’s theories on domestication and foreignization.
In the second part of the paper, we explore possible solutions for these challenges using the tools available for MOOC.
Preparatory activities include reading a given literary text and its adequate comprehension is verified through MCQs.
The activities for acquiring linguistic and translation knowledge and skills are designed to take into consideration learning progression. So, for every type of errors, activities begin with closed type exercises, MCQs and drop-down lists, then continue with drag and drop and text input questions, and in the final stage, peer reviewed exercises usually demand students to elaborate their choices when translating. The discussions are reserved for phenomena that students become aware during the course (e.g., false friends) and they are expected to explore them further. Positive and negative aspects of certain translation solutions can also be subjects of discussion.
The final activities consist of translation of a given passage twice and elaboration of the differences between the two translations. Translations and conclusions can be subjected to peer reviews and to discussion.
The whole course aims at acquiring not only linguistic and translatological knowledge, but also at developing patience and attention to details.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects: Humanities > Languages and literature
Divisions: Faculty of Philology
Depositing User: Svetlana Jakimovska
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2023 10:31
Last Modified: 30 Jan 2023 10:31
URI: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/30478

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item