Time Schedule:
Cynthia Steele
C LIT 396
Seattle Campus
Offered by visitors or resident faculty. Content varies.
Class description
Workshop on translating poetry, short fiction and nonfiction prose from Spanish to English. We will read essays on the theory and practice of translation, engage in close readings of the texts we will be translating, and undertake a variety of translation exercises. As a final project the class will collectively translate two books by Mexican author Elena Poniatowska: Las siete cabritas (Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 2000) and Rondas de la niña mala (Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 2008), as well as one book of poetry by Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco, La arena errante (1999) and possibly submit them, or portions of them, for publication. Students must be fluent in both languages.
Texts Available from University BookStore:
1. Edith Grossman. Why Translation Matters. New Haven: Yale UP, 2010. 160 pp. $9.71. ISBN-10: 0300171307 2. Elena Poniatowska. Rondas de la niña mala. Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 2008. 80 pp. $13.95. ISBN-10: 9684117124 3. José Emilio Pacheco. La arena errante. Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 1999, 128 pp. $19.955. ISBN-10: 968411463X
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Translation Exercises:
You will work individually and collectively on translation exercises during class, and will read your translations aloud for class critique and turn in a copy at the end of class. You can miss one translation exercise due to illness; if you miss more than one, you must contact me to make it up.
Quizzes:
There will be seven in-class multi-choice quizzes on the readings; I will count your six best grades. (You may therefore miss one quiz without penalty, due to illness. If you miss more, please contact me to make it up.)
Essay and Poetry Translations:
You will work collaboratively with two other students to translate one of the seven essays in Elena Poniatowska’s book Las sieta cabritas (2000), a collection of essays about Mexican women authors and artists. The essays are on painters Frida Kahlo, Nahui Olin, and María Izquierdo; and authors Pita Amor, Rosario Castellanos, Elena Garro, and Nellie Campobello. You will also work collaboratively with another pair of students to translate two poems from Elena Poniatowska’s Rondas de la niña mala (2008) and five poems from José Emilio Pacheco’s La arena errante (1999).
translation of one essay by Poniatowska 20%
translation of three poems by Poniatowska 20%
translation of five poems by Pacheco 20%
6 quizzes (I will drop the lowest score of the 7) 18%
Class Participation 22% (includes in-class exercises and critiques, as well as discussion of readings)
