21st-Century Scottish Fiction in Translation

elective courses

The course explores recent Scottish prose as material for translation into Polish. We discuss existing translations of novels and short stories by prominent Scottish authors, as well as works that have not been rendered in Polish - fragments of the latter serve students as material for their own translation practice. In the context of translation studies, the course addresses the specificity of Scottish literature, the problems with rendering it in translation, and the solutions to these problems, both those actively used by translators and by potential translators of the future.

The course is designed for BA students.

During the course we shall focus on selected novels and short stories by writers such as Douglas Stuart, Denise Mina, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh, Michel Faber, Anne Donovan, James Robertson. The aim is to explore the specificity of these works as representative of contemporary Scottish fiction, and to focus on the linguistic, cultural and formal aspects of these texts that can be considered crucial in the context of translating said (and such) writing into Polish.

We will discuss the following topics:

- Scotland’s linguistic pluralism as a crucial element of Scottish identity;

- Scottish cultural realities and historical contexts;

- the city in contemporary Scottish fiction;

- Scottish crime fiction as a portrait of society.

In theoretical terms, the course explores the following concepts:

- the cultural turn in translation studies;

- translation as rewriting/refraction (André Lefevere);

- translation in a postcolonial context (Maria Tymoczko);

- foreignization and domestication, the translator’s (in)visibility, translation as the experience of the foreign (Antoine Berman, Lawrence Venuti)

- the translation of dialects (Leszek Berezowski, Krzysztof Hejwowski)

Apart from discussing existing translations, students also will be asked to produce their own renditions of texts that have not come out in Poland.

Critical texts:

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

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

Craig, Cairns (1999) The Modern Scottish Novel. Narrative and the National Imagination, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Korzeniowska, Aniela (2008) Translating Scotland. Nation and Identity, Warsaw: University of Warsaw

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

Petrie, Duncan (2010) Contemporary Scottish fictions: film, television and the novel, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Schoene, Berthold (2007) The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Literature, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Tymoczko, Maria (2000) „Translations of Themselves: The Contours of Postcolonial Fiction.” W: Changing the Terms: Translating in the Postcolonial Era, Sherry Simon and Paul St-Pierre eds., Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press

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

Selected novels:

Donovan, Anne (2003) Buddha Da, Edinburgh: Canongate

Faber, Michel (2000) Under the Skin, Edinburgh: Canongate

Mina, Denise (2005) The Field of Blood, London: Bantam Press

Mina, Denise (2006) The Dead Hour, London: Bantam Press

Rankin, Ian (2016) Rather Be the Devil, London: Orion Books

Robertson, James (2014), 365: Stories, London: Penguin

Stuart, Douglas (2020), Shuggie Bain, London: Picador

Polish translations:

Faber, Michel (2005) Pod skórą, przeł. Maciej Świerkocki, Warszawa: W.A.B.

Mina, Denise (2005) Pole krwi, przeł. Hanna Pawlikowska-Gannon, Warszawa: W.A.B.

Mina, Denise (2006) Martwa godzina, przeł. Maciej Świerkocki, Warszawa: W.A.B.

Rankin, Ian (2022) Wszyscy diabli, przeł. Łukasz Praski, Warszawa: Albatros.

Stuart, Douglas (2021) Shuggie Bain, przeł. Krzysztof Cieślik, Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie.

Knowledge

The graduate will be able to:

K_W01 Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of translation studies within the humanities

K_W02 Describe on an advanced level the current trends in translation studies research within English studies

Abilities

The graduate is able to:

K_U01 Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline of translation studies

K_U03 Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to translation studies

K_U04 Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena related to the translation of contemporary Scottish prose and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level

K_U05 Discern alternative methodological paradigms within literary translation and translation studies

K_U08 Participate in group projects on contemporary Scottish prose in translation, collaborate with others and be a team leader in conducting collaborative research, presentations and other tasks included in the curriculum

K_U09 Present knowledge on the translation of contemporary Scottish fiction in a coherent, precise and linguistically correct manner in English at C2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, ensuring an appropriate register and form

Social competences

The graduate is ready to:

K_K02 Apply literary-translation knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

K_K03 Take responsibility for performing one’s 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

K_K04 Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the analysis of contemporary Scottish prose in translation.

The final grade will be based on: 1) regular attendance and active participation in classes; 2) A term paper: a translation of an individually selected text, with a detailed analysis of the translation process and the decisions made, or a detailed critical analysis of a selected fragment of a Scottish literary text translated into Polish.

Attendance - min. 80%

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.