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2022/2023

Fundamentals of Translation, Translation Studies and Intercultural Studies B-A

Code: 44386 ECTS Credits: 15
Degree Type Year Semester
4316560 Translation and Intercultural Studies OB 0 1

Contact

Name:
Lucía Molina Martinez
Email:
lucia.molina@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Teachers

Lucía Molina Martinez
Laura Santamaria Guinot
Marta Brescia Zapata
Mariana Orozco Jutoran
Anabel Galan Mañas
Patricia Rodriguez Ines
Maria Guadalupe Romero Ramos

Prerequisites

Students must have officially enrolled on the master’s degree programme in Translation and Intercultural Studies.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This 15-credit module is compulsory for all the programme’s students and provides a theoretical foundation common to both specialisations. Its general objective is for students to become familiar with aspects of interculturalism and plurality and with the crucial linguistic mediation involved in translation and interpreting. It covers anthropological considerations and cultural differences in different continents and countries as bases for correct translation and interpreting, as well as the parameters of discourse analysis, which is key to successfully identifying the time and place of origin of discourse so as to be able to interpret and translate it correctly. The module also includes essential content on translation methodology and is designed to foster the acquisition of knowledge and skills vital to the proper use of the documentation and terminology resources most appropriate to professional specialised translation and research in translation studies and intercultural studies.

Competences

  • Ability for teamwork and for resolving possible conflicts during professional activity.
  • Act with social and ethical responsibility.
  • Analyse distinct discourse types in intercultural environments.
  • Appropriately identify and interpret cultural elements.
  • Argue original ideas from an academic perspective.
  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  • Develop a critical perspective on one's own and other people's discourses.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Integrate knowledge to be able to make judgements about topics related to translation and intercultural studies.
  • Possession of learning abilities which allow for continued study which is largely self-directed or autonomous.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
  • Use the necessary documentary and technological resources for translation and intercultural studies.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Ability for teamwork and for resolving possible conflicts during professional activity.
  2. Act with social and ethical responsibility.
  3. Argue original ideas from an academic perspective.
  4. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  5. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  6. Demonstrate full control of methodological foundations to develop an academic or professional project in the field of translation and intercultural studies.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge related to interculturality and linguistic plurality.
  8. Develop a critical perspective on one's own and other people's discourses.
  9. Differentiate distinct text genres.
  10. Distinguish and apply distinct parameters of discourse analysis.
  11. Distinguish distinct cultural elements and explain their function in a specific context.
  12. Distinguish relevant theoretical references to analyse discursive mechanisms.
  13. Identify the most appropriate specialised-documentation resources for different functions.
  14. Identify theoretical references to analyse the most relevant problems in translation and intercultural studies.
  15. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  16. Justify the role of translation as linguistic mediation in an intercultural context.
  17. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  18. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
  19. Use the necessary resources to solve problems deriving from interculturality and linguistic plurality.

Content

1. INTERCULTURALISM AND TRANSLATION

Unit A

  • Cultural studies
  • Intercultural studies and translation
  • Ideology and translation
  • Memory, identity and translation
  • The social limits of translation
  • Cognition, reception and censorship

Unit B

  • Approaches to the concept of culture
  • Language, culture and translation
  • Translation, an intercultural activity
  • Cultural references in translation
  • How cultural transfer works in translation
  • Instruments for analysing the translation of cultural references

 

2. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

  • Text and discourse. Factors of analysis
  • Text types and genres
  • Linguistic variation: dialects
  • Linguistic variation: colloquial and coarse language
  • The discourse of power and social class
  • Language and discrimination
  • Humour

 

3. DOCUMENTATION RESOURCES AND METHODOLOGY

  • The documentation process in specialised translation
  • Information resources and search strategies
  • Information sources: concept and types
  • Information sources for translators and interpreters. Resource directory
  • Evaluating and using sources (use, reliability, rigour)
  • Concept maps
  • Multilingual databases (BACUS-MULTITERM, Babelnet, etc.)
  • Corpus linguistics applied to translation
  • Frequency analysis (Sketch Engine and AntConc, text segmentation tools)
  • Resources for writing in a foreign language

 

4. TRANSLATION METHODOLOGY

• Translation competence acquisition
• Translation, an act of communication
• The dynamism of translation equivalence
• Translation process stages
• Documentation fortranslators
• The translation method
• Modes of translation
• Aspects of final projects carried out in collaboration with an organisation: table of contents, introduction, objectives, theoretical framework, methodology, conclusions and bibliography

Methodology

. Lectures

. Problems / examples / exercises

. Oral presentations

. Group or individual exercises

. Practical activities

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures. Practical activities. 90 3.6 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19
Type: Supervised      
Problems / examples / exercises. Oral presentations. 30 1.2 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19
Type: Autonomous      
Practical activities. Reading. Assignments. 255 10.2 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19

Assessment

At the beginning of the academic year, the lecturers responsible for each subject will provide students with information on its assessment activities (characteristics, percentages, dates and deadlines, etc.).

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments 40% 0 0 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19
Attendance and participation in classes 20% 0 0 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19
Knowledge acquisition tests 40% 0 0 2, 16, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 4, 5, 18, 1, 19

Bibliography

Each subject’s teaching guide will include its bibliography.

Software

At the beginning of each subject, the teacher will indicate if specific software is required.