Heart of Darkness / Jądro ciemności / Serce ciemności: Conrad's Novella in Translation

elective courses

Classroom

The course is designed for MA students.

The course examines Heart of Darkness, one of the most important works of Joseph Conrad, and its translations into Polish. The analysis of the many Polish renditions, referencing the major concepts of Translation Studies, will serve as material for discussion of not only Conrad’s text itself (in the original and in translation), but also the need for and significance of new Polish translations of foreign literary classics, as well as the changes in the status of translated literature in Polish culture.

During the course we will study Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a classic work of English literature, and its multiple Polish versions:

- Jądro ciemności, translated by Aniela Zagórska (1930)

- Jądro ciemności, translated by Jędrzej Polak (1994)

- Jądro ciemności, translated by Barbara Koc (2000)

- Jądro ciemności, translated by Patrycja Jabłońska (2008)

- Jądro ciemności, translated by Magdalena Heydel (2011)

- Serce ciemności, adaptation by Jacek Dukaj (2017)

Our discussion of these texts, which will be based on relevant concepts of translatology, and especially translation studies - such as polysystem theory, the idea of translation as the experience of the foreign, the strategies of foreignisation and domestication - will serve as a starting point for a broader reflection regarding the unique and problematic nature of literature in translation and its changing position in Polish culture.

The classes will be devoted to:

- a close analysis of the original text, focusing on its language and cultural content;

- an analysis and assessment of each translation, taking into account its cultural context and purpose;

- consideration of the relationship between the original text and its translation(s) (the concepts of foreignisation and domestication);

- consideration of the status and role of translated literature in the target culture (Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory and his notion of culture repertoire, as well as Antoine Berman’s idea of translation as the experience of the foreign);

- consideration of the translator’s status (as theorized by Lawrence Venuti);

- the reception and criticism of literary translations in Poland.

Bassnett, Susan (1991) Translation Studies, London: Routledge.

Bassnett, Susan and André Lefevere (1998) Constructing Cultures. Essays on Literary Translation, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Berman, Antoine (2000 [1985]) “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign”, trans. Lawrence Venuti, in Lawrence Venuti (ed.) The Translation Studies Reader, London & New York: Routledge, 284-297.

Bukowski, Piotr i Magda Heydel ed. (2009) Współczesne teorie przekładu, Kraków: Znak.

Even-Zohar, Itamar (2000 [1975/revised 1990]) “The Position of Translated Literature within the Literary Polysystem”, in Lawrence Venuti (ed.) The Translation Studies Reader, London & New York: Routledge, 192-197.

Even-Zohar, Itamar (1997) “ The Making of Culture Repertoire and the Role of Transfer”, Target, 9 (2), 373-381.

Jarniewicz, Jerzy (2012) Gościnność słowa. Szkice o przekładzie literackim, Kraków: Znak.

Jarniewicz, Jerzy (2018) Tłumacz między innymi. Szkice o przekładach, językach i literaturze, Wrocław: Ossolineum.

Kozak, Jolanta (2009) Przekład literacki jako metafora. Miedzy logos a lexis, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Toury, Gideon (2000 [1978/revised 1995]) “The Nature and Role of Norms in Translation” in Lawrence Venuti (ed.) The Translation Studies Reader, London & New York: Routlefge, 198-211.

Venuti, Lawrence (1995) The Translator's Invisibility. A History of Translation, London & New York: Routledge.

Venuti, Lawrence ed. (2000) The Translation Studies Reader, London & New York: Routledge.

The novels:

Conrad, Joseph (1994 [1899]) Heart of Darkness, London: Penguin Books.

Conrad, Joseph (1994) Jądro ciemności, trans. Jędrzej Polak, Poznań: SAWW.

Conrad, Joseph (2008) Jądro ciemności, trans. Patrycja Jabłońska, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Greg.

Conrad, Joseph (2009) Jądro ciemności, trans. Ireneusz Socha, Kraków: Zielona Sowa.

Conrad, Joseph (2011) Jądro ciemności, trans. Magdalena Heydel, Kraków: Znak.

Conrad, Joseph (2017 [1930]) Jądro ciemności, trans. Aniela Zagórska, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie.

Conrad, Joseph (2017) Serce ciemności, trans. Jacek Dukaj, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie.

Knowledge

The student will be able to:

- identify and characterise on an advanced level the place and status of literary translation, and especially the concept of retranslation, within the humanities

- describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary translation research within English studies

Abilities

The student is able to:

- apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the analysis of literary translation and the concept of retranslation

- wykorzystać zdobytą wiedzę do opisania i rozwiązania problemu oraz wykonania projektu naukowego dotyczącego polskich przekładów Heart of Darkness Josepha Conrada

Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task on the subject of Polish translations of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

- analyse linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena found in Polish translations of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level

- discern alternative methodological paradigms within the discipline of translation studies

- uczestniczyć w pracy projektowej dotyczącej analizy polskich przekładów Heart of Darkness Josepha Conrada i współdziałać z innymi osobami w ramach grupowych dyskusji

carry out an individual research project related to Polish translations of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and collaborate with others as part of group discussions

- present knowledge on the subject of Polish translations of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in a coherent, precise and linguistically correct manner in English on level C2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, ensuring an appropriate register and form

Social competences

The student is ready to:

- apply knowledge and skills related to the analysis of literary translation to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

- take responsibility for performing their professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to literary translation and translation studies

- assess critically their own knowledge of the subject literary translation and translatological skills.

The final grade will be based on: 1) regular attendance and active participation in classes, including short presentations; 2) a written assignment: an analysis of a selected fragment of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in different translations, which will include an in-depth critical assessment of the said translations from a translatological perspective, or an analysis of a translation of the novella that we do not discuss in class.

Attendance - min. 80%

If the course is taught online, each student is expected to have a working web-cam and microphone.

Retake - rewriting the term paper, if the student has received an unsatisfactory grade. Completing additional written assignments, if the in-class work has been unsatisfactory.