SCHEDULE

anthony.chambers@asu.edu,  http://www.public.asu.edu/~achamber/
home phone (until 9 p.m.) 480-921-8043

This course will combine hands-on practice in translating from Japanese to English with an introduction to the history and theory of translation in the West.  We'll read and discuss essays on translation from John Dryden (17th century) to the year 2000, when a symposium on translating Japanese literature took place in Tokyo.  The emphasis of the course, however, will be on practice: each student will be required to identify specific Japanese literary texts she or he wishes to translate, to discuss the specific (cultural, linguistic, temporal, etc.) problems involved in translating such texts, and to produce translations which attempt to solve these problems.  Members of the class will take turns presenting and discussing translations and translation problems.

Students who are not native speakers of English should see me immediately.

Each week we'll read and discuss a text about the history or theory of translation, AND discuss translations, or presentations of problems, provided by members of the group.

• JPN 314 (second semester of third-year Japanese), or permission of the instructor, is a prerequisite for JPN 485.  It is highly desirable for students also to have taken JPN 321 (Japanese Literature in Japanese) before taking JPN 485.  Permission of the instructor is required for students to take the course at the graduate level.
• Participants must be fluent in English and write English well, have a good grasp of written Japanese, and have a strong interest in literature.
• Students who have attended any secondary school in which the language of instruction was Japanese may take this course ONLY with the approval of the instructor.

• This is intended to be a participatory, hands-on class.  Regular attendance, preparation, and participation are required.
• Each student will make a pre-arranged number of literary translations during the semester.  If a student is interested in translating one longer text rather than a number of shorter ones, this is a possible option.  Clean copies of all translations will be due the last week of classes.
• Each student will make at least one class presentation on the problems he or she has encountered in making a translation.  See below for details.
• All work  must be neatly typed and proofread.  Use double-spacing and one-inch margins.  Errors in grammar and spelling will not be tolerated.  Late work will not be accepted.
• Turn off telephones and pagers before class begins.
• Additional work, TBA, will be required of graduate students.

You will be asked to sign up for class presentations and discussions.  The number of presentations each student will make will depend on the number of students taking the class.  The material you present can be part of a longer translation or a short, separate piece.
    When your turn comes, you will present to the class the specific problems you've encountered in translating the text you've chosen, and your tentative solutions to these problems.  You will then discuss these problems and solutions with the class and respond to your classmates' comments.  "Problems" normally will not include problems in understanding the original text; these are reading problems, rather than translation problems.  Translation problems are those that arise when, having fully understood the source text, you try to put the source text into the target language.  Bring your Japanese-English dictionary with you on the day of your presentation.
    The week BEFORE you're due to present and discuss your work, you should provide each member of the class with (1) a copy of the original text (the part you're translating), (2) a verbatim translation, and (3) a working translation.
    Your verbatim translation should be used to identify and discuss the problems you've been unable to resolve.  Account for the solutions you've attempted and rejected.
    EVERY student is expected to come to every session intimately acquainted with the work to be discussed and prepared to offer suggestions.
    The instructor will be looking for weight, depth, and commitment, rather than length of text or number of pages.  One discussion rarely resolves all problems.  Your work will need revision and re-revision.

              Susan Bassnet-McGuire. TRANSLATION STUDIES
              Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet, eds.  THEORIES OF TRANSLATION:  AN ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS
              Donald Richie, ed.  WORDS, IDEAS, AND AMBIGUITIES

• A good THESAURUS, such as Roget's International Thesaurus.  Look for inexpensive, second-hand copies at Changing Hands Bookstore (6428 S. McClintock, Tempe), Half-Price Books (1245 W. Elliott, Tempe), and similar outlets.  DO NOT settle for a cheap pocket-sized version.  Bring your thesaurus to each class.
• A good English dictionary.
• A good Japanese-English dictionary:    The best is Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary.
• A good kanji-to-English dictionary (such as The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary).
• A good Kokugo Jiten (Japanese-Japanese) dictionary, such as Shinchô kokugojiten or Kôjien.  Japanese Dictionaries are available from Sasugabooks.com, cheng-tsui.com, Amazon.com, etc.
• Modern Colloquialisms:  Japanese-English, by Edward Seidensticker and Matsumoto Michihiro (Asahi Shuppansha, 1982) is very useful but might be hard to find.

• Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English, ed. by Olive Classe (Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000).  In the Reference Collection at Hayden Library, call number PN241 .E539 2000 (2 volumes).  See entries on individual languages and writers, and on topics like "Communication Theory and Literary Translation," "Comparative Literature and Literary Translation," "Contrastive Linguistics and Literary Translation," "Cultural Contacts and Literary Translation," "Cultural Misrepresentation," "Cultural Studies and Literary Translation," "Cultural Transference," "Cultural Transposition," "Deconstruction and Literary Translation," "Drama:  Translation into English," "Economics and Politics of Choice:  What Gets Published," "Equivalence:  Formal and Dynamic," "Feminist Translation Theory," "Gender and Gender Politics in Literary Translation," "Group Translation," "Haiku in English Translation," "Hypertext and Translation," "Ideology and Translation," "Imitation," "Improving the Original," "Indirect Translation," "Intertextuality:  The Function of Literary Translation," "Linguistics and Literary Translation," "Literal Translation:  A Practioner's View," "Machine Translation," "Pragmatics and Literary Translation," "Re-translation," "Semantics and Literary Translation," "Sociolects and Dialects and Literary Translation," "Teaching Literary Translation," "The Translator and the Publisher," "Translation:  Art, Craft or Science?", "Translation Evaluation," "Translation Institutions and Journals," "Translation Loss," "Translation Norms," "Translation Studies Today," "Translation Theory," "Translationese," and "Unit of Translation."
• The Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 1980) contains a "Symposium:  Translation and Japanese Studies," including Roy Andrew Miller, Edward Seidensticker, Marleigh Grayer Ryan, and others.
• Donald Keene, "On Translation," in his Landscapes and Portraits (PL727.5 .K38).  Donald Keene is the author of a massive history of Japanese literature and a prolific translator.
• Edward Seidensticker, "On Being Faithful to Murasaki Shikibu" and "On Translating an Exotic Language," in his This Country, Japan (DS822.5 .S44x).  Edward Seidensticker is the most distinguished American translator of Japanese.
• Arthur Waley, "Notes on Translation," in Madly Singing in the Mountains, edited by Ivan Morris (PR6045.A265 Z77).  Arthur Waley was the great British translator of Chinese and Japanese literature.

              Call or e-mail me in advance if you must miss class.
              If you do miss class, it’s your responsibility to obtain copies of anything that was handed out in class and to complete required work by the deadline.
              If you miss class because of an illness, you must present a medical excuse from a physician.
              After two unexcused absences, each unexcused absence will lower your final grade.
              Three late arrivals at, or early departures from, class will count as one absence.

There will be no make-up work, no late work, no extensions, and no supplemental work to raise your grade, except as described above.  Students who must miss class in order to participate in University-sanctioned activities (such as band, debate, or swimming) may be excused and allowed to make up examinations and other graded in-class work IF:
1.  you identify yourself to me BEFORE the day you expect to miss class AND make advance arrangements to make up missed work (missed work must be made up as soon as possible, and in any case within one week); AND
2.  you provide me with a copy of your travel schedules and a note from your coach, band leader, or whatever; AND
3. such activities do not become so frequent that they interfere with your progress in Japanese.

For withdrawals, I adhere strictly to university policies and deadlines.  There will be no incompletes unless you are doing well in the course otherwise, have nearly completed it, have some colossal, unforeseeable, and documented event that prevents you from finishing, and see the professor before the final exam if at all possible.

Thursday, January 17:  Read this entire web page carefully.  Also, read Translation Studies, "Preface to the Revised Edition" and "Introduction" pp. xi-xix, 1-11.

Thursday, January 24:  Presentation

Thursday, January 31:  Presentations

Thursday, February 7:  Presentations:  Craig Nevitt, Melissa Miller.  EVERY student is expected to come to the session intimately acquainted with the works to be discussed and prepared to offer suggestions.  Bring Japanese-English dictionaries, Kokugo jiten, and thesauruses to class.

Thursday, February 14:  Presentations:  Chen-chen Sun, Brad Wilson

Thursday, February 21:  Presentations:  Michael Grazzaffi, Jessica Jordan

Thursday, February 28:  Presentation:  Hanako Takeyama

Thursday, March 21:  Presentations:  Craig Nevitt, Hanako Takeyama

Thursday, March 28:  Presentations:  Michael Grazzaffi, Chen-chen Sun

Thursday, April 4:  Edward Fowler, "Rendering Words, Traversing Cultures:  On the Art and Politics of Translating Modern Japanese Fiction;" Frank B. Gibney's "Reply;" Fowler's "Reply" to Gibney (handouts)
Discussion facilitator:  Bradley Wilson

Thursday, April 11:  Presentations:  Matt Torpey, Clyde Mandelin

Thursday, April 18:  Presentations:  Michael Grizzaffi, Melissa Miller

Thursday, April 25:  Presentations:  Jessica Jordan, Brad Wilson

CLEAN COPIES OF ALL TRANSLATIONS ARE DUE.  Your translation must be neatly typed and proofread.  Use double-spacing and one-inch margins.  Errors in grammar and spelling will not be tolerated.  Late work will not be accepted.

HAVE A RESTFUL, PRODUCTIVE SUMMER!