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Contextes socio-politiques de la traduction / Translation in sociopolitical context

FTRA 603/FTRA 553

Département d'études françaises — Translation Studies sector

Academic Year 2021–22 | Fall (H 520) | Tuesdays 11:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

 

Please note the dates when classes are scheduled to take place online. Zoom meeting links for these classes and for office hours are provided in Moodle.

Important! We remind students that it is strictly forbidden and against Concordia University’s Code of Conduct to circulate the course content (Word, PDF, PowerPoint, evaluations, etc.) on websites that host or share teaching documents, university papers, etc.

Keep abreast of your university dates, deadlines, responsibilities and services:

Specific course description and objectives

Translation is a unique mode of communication. For its practice, it requires not only knowledge of diverse languages and cultures but also competence in a subject area and general knowledge of the world. Training in certain processes enables translators to sift through their repositories of knowledge in an efficient way, in order to produce a professional translation that communicates the message, context, and intention of a source text clearly to different target audiences. The translation studies discipline is interdisciplinary by default. Many diverse disciplinary approaches continue to contribute and provide new insights into translation as an object of inquiry.

In this course you will explore some of the important dynamics that influence and guide the emergence, production, circulation, and reception of translation in linguistically diverse environments, especially those of endangered and minoritized languages-cultures. For decades, linguists have been alerting the general public to the accelerated pace of language loss, with half the world's nearly 7,000 languages heading toward extinction in the 21st century. At the same time, linguistic-cultural identities do not occur in a vacuum, nor are they permanently fixed or static. They acquire their forms within fluid communicative environments that change in relation to social and political fluctuations.

In our rapidly transforming contemporary world, the parameters that induce change are many: globalization, economics; geopolitics; sociocultural and linguistic traditions and habits; migration; warfare; demographics; social inequalities; political and institutional ideologies and governance; climate and ecologic alterations; technological automation and artificial intelligence, to name some of the most salient. To understand them critically and historically is to begin to re-envision future directions of our collective human trajectory. As a vital mode of communication across geographical and digital boundaries, and rich in the experience of negotiating difference, translation will continue to have a serious role to play in our world.

More specifically, in this course you will learn to:

  • Engage with diverse perspectives on translation;
  • Examine some of the concepts and methodological approaches used to investigate, analyze, interpret, and understand language and translation in relation to social and political dynamics, power, and institutional structures;
  • Consider the effects of important external factors on translation, such as migration, conflict, globalization, geopolitics, contemporary technologies, among others;
  • Historicize and contextualize specific minority language translation scenarios;
  • Identify the concrete ways in which the supranational European Union (EU) implements its multilingual policies and strategies of translation as a means to encourage representative and participatory democracy;
  • Identify certain characteristics of complex heterogeneous, plurilingual, and minoritized translational spaces;
  • Analyze the multi-faceted roles of translation and translation studies research in the contemporary global context;
  • Understand the relevance of all these factors on the actual practices of translation, including in professional work, and on translation research and society at large.

Pedagogical assessment and evaluation

Readings

Selected articles and book chapters are posted and accessible through links in our class Moodle site from the outset of the course. You will find details in the weekly portions of the site and in this syllabus. Recommended readings (indicated in the syllabus) can be useful as further references and consulted for the final research paper. From time to time, I'll provide other links of interest for you in Moodle.

Class procedures

There are three online sessions planned during the course of this class. Preparation for both on-site and online modalities is straightforward.

Readings: For each class (onsite and online sessions), the expectation is that you will have read all the required readings listed for the week. The readings vary in scope and length, with some a mere 3 pages (e.g., encyclopedia or handbook entries), others the length of a book chapter (ranging from 20-30 pages), and many with extensive bibliographies provided by the authors. Have a look at the content in advance, so that you can plan ahead for the amount of time you will need during the week to read through the materials. You may use these readings as sources for your final papers as well.

Pre-recorded segments: You will also have a 25-minute pre-recorded segment to listen to prior to the sessions we have online. Note: This is only for the sessions that are online. To compensate, the length of time for the online meeting will be shorter than for the onsite meeting. The pre-recorded segment will be posted on our Moodle class site by the preceding Friday.

Comments: Each week you are responsible for posting (at least 24 hours before class) one substantive, informed comment for discussion on any or all of the readings. There are many interesting angles from which to consider the reading content. Your comments will guide discussion during our class meetings.

Class discussions: The discussions, both onsite and online (not recorded), constitute an important space for articulating, clarifying, and critiquing ideas. This activity is also most helpful for working through the ideas you may want to use for your final research papers.

Grading criteria

Class comments and discussions (including pre-recorded segment listening) (40%)

  • Constitutes 40/100 points of final grade
  • Based on a total of 10 out of 13 weeks, each week worth 4 points
  • Breakdown of 4 points: 4=excellent; 3=good; 2=satisfactory; 1=unsatisfactory

Final research paper (60%)

  • Constitutes 60/100 points of final grade
  • Based on quality and respect of protocol (see below)
  • Breakdown of assessment categories:
    • “Excellent”: originality; information highly relevant to the questions posed; highly critical and analytical; superior and judicious use of citations and supporting evidence [55-60 pts]
    • “Very Good/Good”: clear argument and presentation; information relevant to the questions posed; good level of critical and analytical engagement with texts; very good use of citations and supporting evidence [40-54 pts]
    • “Satisfactory”: evidence of argument and presentation; information not consistently relevant to the questions posed; critical analysis passable; citations included but not always reliable or compliant [30-39 pts]
    • “Unsatisfactory”: incoherent argument/presentation; information illogical and/or irrelevant; little/no critical analysis; improper citing [20-29 pts]

Final grade calculation (100%)

  • Calculated on the basis of 100 points = 100%
  • Breakdown of grading categories (based on departmental rating scale for graduate courses)

A+ = 100-95 [4.3] // A = 94-90 [4.0]

A- = 89-85 [3.7] // B+ = 84-80 [3.3]

B = 79-75 [3.0] // B- = 74-70 [2.7]

C = 69-60 [2.0]

Protocol for final research papers

  • Mandatory! Please reserve a 10- to 15-minute one-on-one individual meeting with me to take place online by November 16 in order to discuss your final research paper topic and method before you begin writing.
  • Style guides to follow: for English papers: Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition; for French papers: TTR guidelines
  • Papers should be a minimum of 20 pages in length, including bibliography.
  • Please use the standard default Calibri font set at 11. Include a cover page that states your name, student ID number and title.
  • Papers may be submitted in English or in French. You do not have to translate any English or French quotes.
  • Critical tip! Good, clear, precise writing is a skill that is valued highly for professional work of all types in today's job market. Writing a paper requires adequate time for conceptualization and preparation. Think about the research topic you want to explore or the research question you want to address. It is helpful to map out in advance the points you wish to make. State at the outset how you will proceed, and define important or necessary terms and concepts. Synthesize and reference others to support or critique your statements. Make sure you provide an adequate synthesis of your ideas, and use precise vocabulary to explain your sequence of thoughts.
  • Take care to reference and cite properly. Any and all passages that are plagiarized will be reported to the Department Chair, and the paper will receive an automatic failure. There is no need to resort to plagiarism. Our objective is to enhance the analytical, critical and writing skills you will need for future professional or academic work, so that you will feel confident in your own work. That purpose is defeated if you simply copy-paste someone else's words. See me in advance if you need assistance or guidance.
  • Papers are graded according to quality of argument, clarity of expression, proper use of terminology and concepts, and adequate, acceptable citation.

Detailed course content

1. Admin procedures, syllabus review, bibliographic and reference sources

2. Intro discussion: Studying “translation” and assessing what we know: its practice, professionalization, and interdisciplinarity.

3. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 2:

a. Maialen Marin-Lacarta, “Research Methodologies, Translation”, 479-484, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)  

b. David Katan, “Defining culture, defining translation”, Chapter 1, 17-47, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture, edited by Sue-Ann Harding and Carbonell Cortés, Ovidi (Routledge 2018)

c. Martin Fuchs, “Reaching out; or, Nobody exists in one context only: Society as translation”, Translation Studies 2009, 2:1, 21-40

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: “Translation” involves more than linguistic expertise. In practice and in concept, how do we interpret and analyze it in terms of its “social” and “cultural” parameters, and these in relation to actual social and political organization and structures?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 3:

a. Anthony Pym, “On the social and the cultural in Translation Studies”, Version 1.9, 10 January 2004

b. Theo Hermans, “Social Systems”, 531-535, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

c. Fruela Fernández and Jonathan Evans, “Politics”, 414-419, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

d. George W. White, “Nation”, 1971-1973, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

e. Fiona M. Davidson, “Nationalism”, 1978-1981, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

f. Brian James Baer, “Nations and nation-building”, 361-365, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

g. Emily Skop and Wei Li, “Ethnicity”, 1016-1019, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

h. Michael Cronin, “Minority”, 334-338, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

i. María-Sierra Córdoba Serrano and Oscar Diaz Fouces, “Building a field: translation policies and minority languages”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2018: 251, 1-17

Online

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Nation-building ideologies and nation-state systems have potential consequences for minority groups. How can we think beyond the categories and homogeneous narratives of nation-state in order to more effectively account for the realities of linguistic, cultural heterogeneity and human diversity?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 4:

a. Lyle Campbell and Kenneth L. Rehg, “Introduction: Endangered Languages”, 1-19, The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages, edited by Kenneth L. Rehg and Lyle Campbell (Oxford University Press, 2018)

b. Sue Wright, “Planning Minority Language Maintenance: Challenges and Limitations”, 637-657, The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages, edited by Kenneth L. Rehg and Lyle Campbell (Oxford University Press, 2018)

c. Nicola McLelland, “Language standards, standardization and standard ideologies in multilingual contexts”, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2021, 42:2, 109-124

d. Finex Ndhlovu, “Decolonising sociolinguistics research: methodological turn-around next?”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2021: 267-268, 193-201

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Minoritized language situations tend to involve a range of other linguistic activities not typical of majority language contexts, e.g., language codification and standardization. How do we define language loss and endangerment? How can or do we respond through language planning, revitalization, activism, and policy-making? What does it mean to “decolonize”?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 5:

a. Päivi Kuusi, Leena Kolehmainen, and Helka Riionheimo, “Multiple Roles of Translation in the Context of Minority Languages and Revitalisation”, trans-kom 2017, 10:2, 138-163

b. Linda Tuhiwai Smith, “Getting the Story Right, Telling the Story Well: Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Research”, 343-358, Decolonizing Methodologies – Research and Indigenous Peoples, Second Edition, by Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Zed Books 2012)

c. Sarah Henzi, “‘Betwixt and Between’: Alternative Genres, Languages, and Indigeneity”, 487-492, Learn, Teach, Challenge – Approaching Indigenous Literatures, edited by Deanna Reder and Linda M. Morra (Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2016)

d. Carrie Dyck, “Should Translation Work Take Place? Ethical Questions Concerning the Translation of First Nations Languages”, 17-42, Born in the Blood – On Native American Translation, edited with an introduction by Brian Swann (University of Nebraska Press 2011)

3. Choose one of the four articles below as a “case study” to consider!

a. Donna Patrick, 257-284, “Arctic Languages in Canada in the Age of Globalization”, The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities, edited by Gabrielle Hogan-Brun and Bernadette O’Rourke (Palgrave Macmillan 2019)

b. Anne Marie Guerrettaz, “Yucatec Maya language planning and the struggle of the linguistic standardization process”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2019: 260, 61-83

c. Raquel De Pedro Ricoy and Luis Andrade Ciudad, “Translation and Interpreting in the Indigenous Languages of Peru”, 129-148, The Oxford Handbook of Translation and Social Practices, edited by Meng Ji and Sara Laviosa (Oxford University Press 2021)

d. Rosaleen Howard, Raquel De Pedro Ricoy and Luis Andrade Ciudad, “Translation policy and indigenous languages in Hispanic Latin America”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2018: 251, 19-36

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Minoritized language situations lead as well to different perspectives on practices and questions of translation, e.g., specific social values, community relations, and identity. How do these perspectives play out in Indigenous contexts? What are some of the ethical implications for translation and research in minoritized Indigenous spaces?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 6:

a. Patricia Ehrkamp, “Transnationalism”, 2870-2871, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

b. Debbie Folaron, “Challenging the Borders of Nation: Language and Translational Language Policy in the Plurilingual Romani Context”, 279-314, Minority Languages, National Languages, and Official Language Policies, edited by Gillian Lane-Mercier, Denise Merkle, and Jane Koustas (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018)

c. Amelia Abercrombie, “Introduction/Preamble”, 1-16, Mixing and Unmixing Languages-Romani Multilingualism in Kosovo, by Amelia Abercrombie (Routledge, 2020)

d. Deborah Folaron, “Bute Droma / Many Roads: Romani Resilience and Translation in Contact with the World”, 98-122, At Translation’s Edge, edited by Nataša Ďurovičová, Patrice Petro, and Lorena Terando (Rutgers University Press, 2019)

Online

(Note: ROMTRA online conference 14-15-16 Oct — more information to be provided in class)

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Analyses of minoritized language and translation contexts raise critical questions on identities, histories, social and political ‘categories’ of ‘belonging’ in the past and present, along with the rights they imply. Translational relations take different forms in diverse plurilingual, socio-political spaces. What are some of the unique characteristics of the linguistic and translational contexts of Romani peoples, the EU’s largest minority group?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 7:

a. Rafael Schögler, “Sociology of Translation”, Chapter 41, 399-407, The Cambridge Handbook of Sociology: Specialty and Interdisciplinary Studies, edited by Kathleen Odell Korgen (Cambridge University Press 2017)

b. Chuan Yu, “Ethnography”, 167-171, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

c. Theo Hermans, “Positioning”, 423-428, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

d. Moira Inghilleri, “Ethics”, 162-167, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Third Edition, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (Routledge, 2020)

e. Şebnem Susam-Saraeva, “Representing experiential knowledge: Who may translate whom?”, Translation Studies 2020, 14:1, 84-95, and Responses by Moira Inghilleri 95-99, Valerie Henitiuk and Marc-Antoine Mahieu 99-104, Carolyn Shread 104-108, and Temi Odumosu 108-113

f. Bogusława Whyatt & Nataša Pavlović, “Translating languages of low diffusion: current and future avenues”, The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 2021: 15:2, 141-153

g. Recommended: Nike K. Pokorn and Tamara Mikolič Južnič, “Community interpreters versus intercultural mediators – Is it really all about ethics?”, Translation and Interpreting Studies 2020, 15:1, 80-107

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Ethical considerations, protocols, and practices constitute a fundamental pillar of translation research today. They are crucial for working with minoritized linguistic-cultural groups. How can or do we integrate in our study of translation – in concept and in practice – certain aspects of sociological and ethnographic research, and critical reflections and best practices concerning ethical positioning, agency, representation, and experiential knowledge? Why does it matter?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 8:

a. Reference: European Union, A field guide to the main languages in Europe (Publications Office of the European Union 2016) [English and French versions are available online for download]

b. Fact Sheet on the European Union: “Language Policy” https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/142/language-policy

c. Fernand de Varennes and Elżbieta Kuzborska, 21-72, “Minority Language Rights and Standards: Definitions and Applications at the Supranational Level”, The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities, edited by Gabrielle Hogan-Brun and Bernadette O’Rourke (Palgrave Macmillan 2019)

d. Bessie Dendrinos, “Multilingualism language policy in the EU today: A paradigm shift in language education”, 9-28, Training, Language and Culture, 2, 3 (2018)

e. Agnieszka Doczekalska, “Comparing Multilingual Practices in the EU and the Canadian Legal Systems: The Case of Terminological Choices in Legislative Drafting”, 102-112, Institutional Translation for International Governance-Enhancing Quality in Multilingual Legal Communication, edited by Fernando Prieto Ramos (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018)

f. Reine Meylaerts, “Language and translation policies in a bilingual city with a multilingual population – The case of Brussels”, Chapter 6, 97-111, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee (Routledge 2021)

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Official language policies exist in many nation-states around the world, including in Canada. Legislation, management, and governance are fundamental and dynamic areas of activity for bilingual and multilingual language and translation policies. Operating at the supranational level, the policies implemented within the European Union are insightful for their plurilingual mandate, the potentialities they realize, and the challenges encountered. How is official multilingual policy managed for official nation-state languages and minority language within the EU? What of specific countries, e.g., Spain, with Spanish, Catalan, Valencian, Galician, Basque, Occitan…?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 9:

a. Vicente L. Rafael, “Introduction: The Aporia of Translation”, Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation (Duke University Press 2016)

b. Rita Kothari, “Introduction: When We Are ‘Multilingual’, Do We Translate?”, 1-22, A Multilingual Nation: Translation and Language Dynamic in India, edited by Rita Kothari (Oxford University Press, 2018)

c. Hephzibah Israel, “Translation in India: Multilingual practices and cultural histories of texts”, Translation Studies 2021, 14:2, 125-132

d. Yasemin Yildiz, “Conclusion: Toward a Multilingual Paradigm? The Disaggregated Mother Tongue”, 203-222, Beyond the Mother Tongue-The Postmonolingual Condition, by Yasemin Yildiz (Fordham University Press, 2012)

e. Recommended case study: Ana Deumert, Sandrine Mpazayabo and Miché Thompson, “Cape Town as a multilingual city: policies, experiences and ideologies”, Chapter 15, 248-262, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee (Routledge 2021)

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Multilingual contexts around the globe are all unique in their diverse specificities and histories. At the same time, collectively, they are characteristic of the world’s linguistic situation overall. Beyond their management by official language policy, these multilingual contexts encourage us to reflect on their “translational” nature. What are some of the features of these multilingual translational spaces? Is multilingualism itself “translation”? What are the potential implications of using a multilingual rather than monolingual paradigm for translation research?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 10:

a. Gabriel Popescu, “Borders and Boundaries”, 292-294, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

b. Gabriel Popescu, “Deterritorialization and Reterritorialization”, 722-724, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

c. Hartmut Behr, “Globalization”, 1338-1342, Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Warf (SAGE Publications 2010)

d. Tony Capstick, “Human migration, culture, and language”, 1-34, Language and Migration, by Tony Capstick (Routledge, 2021)

e. Loredana Polezzi, “Translation and migration”, Translation Studies 2012, 5:3, 345-356, and Responses by Leslie A Adelson 356-361, Şebnem Bahadur 361-364, and Boris Buden 364-368

f. Recommended: Moira Inghilleri, “Migration, mobility, and culture”, 1-38, Translation and Migration, by Moira Inghilleri (Routledge, 2017)

g. Recommended: Rosina Márquez Reiter and Luisa Martín Rojo, “Introduction: Language and speakerhood in migratory contexts”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2009: 257, 1-16

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Human migration is one of the oldest, continual activities of human history. Every migration brings about certain linguistic, cultural, social, and political consequences and transformations. How can we rethink translation and translational dynamics in relation to the experiences of migrants, their descendants, and minoritized populations in general? Technologies have given us a new tool with which to reflect on globalization, mobility, borders, and more recent concepts like deterritorialization and reterritorialization. What lessons can we learn?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 11:

a. Nana Sato-Rossberg, “Translation in oral societies and cultures”, Chapter 16, 314-326, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture, edited by Sue-Ann Harding and Ovidi Carbonell Cortés (Routledge 2018)

b. Georgina Collins and Maria López Ponz, “Translation, hybridity and borderlands – Translating non-standard language”, Chapter 21, 398-414, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture, edited by Sue-Ann Harding and Ovidi Carbonell Cortés (Routledge 2018)

c. Elena Rodríguez-Murphy, “Depicting a translational and transcultural city – Lagos in Nigerian writing”, Chapter 26, 421-436, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee (Routledge 2021)

d. Tereza Spilioti and Korina Giaxoglou, “Translation and trans-scripting – Languaging practices in the city of Aθens”, Chapter 17, 278-293, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee (Routledge 2021)

Online

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: The conventional boundaries of “translation” (source/target) are expanded when we endeavour to include “translational” practices. They invoke questions on the nature of translation in relation to orality and oral traditions, non-standardized language use, hybridity, and the currently proposed terms for practices such as translingualism, transculturalism, and trans-scripting. Is it necessary to reconsider and reformulate our classical notions of translation in order to more effectively embrace the realities of inter-linguistic and inter-cultural communication? What do we lose and gain in our reflections and discourse?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 12:

a. Jonathan Evans and Fruela Fernández, “Introduction. Emancipation, secret histories, and the language of hegemony”, 1-14, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Politics, edited by Jonathan Evans and Fruela Fernández (Routledge 2018)

b. Stefan Baumgarten and Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, “Translation and the Economies of Power”, 11-26, Translation and Global Spaces of Power, in the series Translation, Interpreting and Social Justice in a Globalised World (Multilingual Matters 2019)

c. David Karlander, “When political institutions use sociolinguistic concepts”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2020: 263, 13-18

d. Lionel Wee, “Rethinking agency in language and society”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2021: 267-268, 271-275

e. Marija Todorova and Kathleen Ahrens, “Development Aid in Translation”, 243-262, The Oxford Handbook of Translation and Social Practices, edited by Meng Ji and Sara Laviosa (Oxford University Press 2021)

f. Recommended: Hassan Belhiah, Mohamed Majdoubi, and Mouna Safwate, “Language revitalization through the media: a case study of Amazigh in Morocco”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2020: 266, 121-141

1. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: Translation never occurs in a vacuum. Power and politics configure many translation dynamics and activities. They involve factors of language status, social prestige, economic value, political influence, hegemonies of information circulation, technologies, and globalization. How can or do we define and understand translation and its emergence, production, circulation, and reception in terms of diverse economies of power?

2. Readings to prepare for discussion @ session 13:

a. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, “Translated by the author: My life in between languages”, Translation Studies 2009, 2:1, 17-20

b. Sara Pugach, “A Short History of African Language Studies in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, with an Emphasis on German Contributions”, Chapter 1, 15-32, The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, edited by Augustine Agwuele and Adams Bodomo (Routledge 2018)

c. Keir Hansford, “Translation Theory and Practice Past and Present – Applying the Target Audience Criterion to some West African languages”, Chapter 16, 325-342, The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, edited by Augustine Agwuele and Adams Bodomo (Routledge 2018)

d. Paul Agbedor, “Language Planning for Sustainable Development – Problems and prospects in Ghana”, Chapter 19, 376-388, The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, edited by Augustine Agwuele and Adams Bodomo (Routledge 2018)

e. Arvi Hurskainen, “Sustainable Language Technology for African Languages”, Chapter 18, 359-375, The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, edited by Augustine Agwuele and Adams Bodomo (Routledge 2018)

f. Stephanie Rudwick and Sinfrae Makoni, “Southernizing and decolonizing the Sociology of Language: African scholarship matters”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL) 2021: 267-268, 259-263

1. Final research paper due today through December 6.

2. Discussion on prepared weekly readings: The African continent, with its highly diverse linguistic, socio-political contexts, offers a fascinating study of the language and translation issues we have discussed throughout the course. Nigeria has over 500 languages, and Cameroon about 250. South Africa has 11 official languages, while the African Union has officialized the use of Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Kiswahili and “any other African language”.

3. Wrap-up: concluding thoughts.

Acknowledgements

With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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