OVERVIEW

Course:  “The reasons of text”

The course gives 12 credits and consists of

• A 36-hour theoretical module

• An application module, with 20 hours of German-Italian translation and 20 hours of Italian-German translation

• A 40-hour application module with interpreting practice

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The goal of the course is to provide students with advanced skills and knowledge regarding metalinguistic analysis, and to delve into individual aspects, including several sector-specific languages. The course includes the support of exercises, organised by language assistants, translators and interpreters, aimed at the practical learning of the language, of advanced translation and of liaison interpreting.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student shall:

-         have adequate critical awareness of the relationship between literature and translation

-         know the main theories of translation

-         have the tools to delve into the theoretical system and into translation practice, dealing with the dynamics that come into play, and become productive, in translation work

-         apply adequate techniques for interlinguistic translation

The global aim of the language learning courses is to enable students to reach level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

PREREQUISITES

Students are not required to have any specific prerequisite.

It goes without saying that adequate linguistic mastery of German and good linguistic mastery of spoken and written Italian, together with good skills in expression, are taken for granted.

TEACHING METHODS

Traditional lesson with the professor teaching the whole class, accompanied by seminar-style exercise units.

Theory lessons (36 hours) will be accompanied by six-monthly practical exercises in German-Italian translation, Italian-German translation and interpreting (please refer to the programmes on the personal pages of the professors, whose names will be published in October 2020 and in Aulaweb). All teaching will occur in the 2nd semester (February-May 2020).

Teaching will be in Italian.

During the lessons, constant feedback with the students is expected through verbal questions. The degree of maturity of the answers, their relevance and the use of adequate sector-specific terms will be considered for the outcome of the final test.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course will be structured specifically as follows:

1. An overview of book publishing in Italy
2. Past and present translators
3. Translation: an exchange between cultures
4. Close cooperation
5. Ervino Pocar
6. The translation of Manns Doktor Faustus
7. Inside translation
8. Works by Alfred Polgar and Egon Friedell
9. Knowing how to choose
10. Der Petroleumkönig oder Donauzauber; Der Freimann; Die zehn Gerechten; Der Kabarettgedanke; Soldatenleben im Frieden

Practical exercises will include interpreting, specialized translation and literary translation.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Theory module

• Alberto Destro, I Paesi di lingua tedesca, Il Mulino, 2004
• N. Dacrema (ed.), Tradurre è un’intenzione, Marcos y Marcos, 2013

Non-attending students are in any case kindly requested to contact the professor.

• L. Salmon, Teoria della traduzione, Franco Angeli, 2017

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Non-attending students shall present the programme specified above, with the above cited critical literature and with the addition of the following textbook:

• L. Salmon, Teoria della traduzione, Franco Angeli, 2017

Lectorship

Teaching materials will be reported at the beginning of the lessons by the professor and via Aulaweb

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

JOACHIM HANS BERND GERDES (President)

MICHELE FABIO VANGI (President)

SERENA SPAZZARINI

LESSONS

Class schedule

GERMAN LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION III

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Theory module: Written test (40% of final mark)

Exercises (lectorship):

Written German-Italian translation test +

Written Italian-German translation test +

Oral interpreting test

(average of marks of lectorship tests: 60% of final mark)

Due to possible anti-Covid restrictions, exams may be entirely or partially online.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Learning assessment includes a written test.

Knowledge related to the course will be assessed via:

1. Yes-and-no questions, for which the student shall demonstrate knowledge of the main cultural foundations (literary, historical, geographical, political) related to the German world.

Reference textbook: Alberto Destro, I Paesi di lingua tedesca, Il Mulino, 2004 (Manual)

Constant updating on the part of the student on current German political topics (by reading newspapers, listening to TV and radio broadcasts) is ‘welcome’.

2) Open-ended questions in which the student shall demonstrate knowledge of concepts related to the topic of the course.

The skills achieved by the student shall be evaluated through targeted exercises, in which the student shall demonstrate the ability to apply the tools provided during the lessons

Textbooks in references

Exams pertaining to practical exercises will test the ability to translate texts, to interact with other speakers in a professional setting, to reformulate, to use specialized terminology, at level B2.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Criteria for assigning the final mark:

. skill in debate and summarisation.

. syntactically correct writing and use of the specific terminology of translation
. capability to organise written text with clarity of thought

Translation exercises include final written tests and interpreting exercises include a final test.