“Translation is a process before it is a result,” John Law reminds us by pointing to the social construction of knowledge as a product of translation (Power, Action, and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge? 1986, 224). In this course, we will probe into the constraints of translating literature in general and poetry in particular. While our focus is on translations from English into German and German into English, we will also consider other languages if you take an interest in them. Our approach is historical and geographical, we will reflect on the way that translations are always rooted in particular cultural contexts. When we consider the historical dimension of English poetry, translation - with its productive forces of imitatio and emulatio - marks the beginning of a long tradition. In a globalized world, with English as a lingua franca in the arts, translation practices are both marginalized and foregrounded. We will reflect on the political and social dimension of translation, and, finally, on the effect of machine learning and AI in the field.

As a preparation for this course you can familiarize yourself with ideas such as sound-based, semantic and pragmatic approaches to translation.

There will be a moodle platform with texts to read, discuss and translate.
Dates: 19.4., 26.4., 10.5. 6-8 pm; 16.6. 2-8 pm US-C 111 

Armin Paul Frank. "Literary translation as art." Harald Kittel, Armin Paul Frank, Norbert Greiner, Theo Hermans, Werner Koller, José Lambert, Fritz Paul (eds.): Übersetzung - Translation - Traduction. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Übersetzungsforschung /An International Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, [HSK 26/1], vol. 1, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. 852-895.

Francis R. Jones. "The Translation of Poetry." The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies. Oxford: OUP, 2011. 169-182.