Introductory description

What are the challenges of translating women's writing from Spanish into English? How have Spanish-language women and LGBT+ authors been translated across time? Which writers and feminist theories are translated into English (and why others aren't)? What does it mean to do a feminist translation? This module provides students with a broad knowledge of key research and discussion topics about women, gender, sexuality and feminism in the Hispanic world, in relation to translation. Framed within the broader context of translation and publishing in the English-speaking book market, it exposes students to a variety of exciting contemporary women writers in the Hispanic world and the English translations of their texts, paying special attention to women's fiction, LGBT+ literature and feminist theory. As well as critically analysing existing (feminist, phallocentric and cis-heteronormative) translations of writers from Latin America, Equatorial Guinea and Spain, students are given the opportunity to translate selected passages from the texts under study. This module will cover these topics using a variety of literary texts as well as academic articles. Students will be taught and assessed in English, and will be required to read and translate from Spanish source text material.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1. Introduction: Feminist and Gender-conscious Approaches to Translation.
Week 2. Women in Translation Initiatives: Hispanic Authors in the English-language Book Industry.
Week 3. Translation Strategies: from Grammatical Gender to Ideological Discourses.
Week 4. Translating Women's Fiction (I): Sexuality and Erotic Writing.
Week 5. Translating Women's Fiction (II): Historical Fiction and Testimonio.
Week 6. Reading Week.
Week 7. Translating LGTB+ Writing: Beyond Cis-Heteronormativity.
Week 8. Translating Feminist Non-Fiction (I): Transgressive Texts.
Week 9. Translating Feminist Non-Fiction (II): Feminist Theory Texts.
Week 10. Revision: Tips for a Translation Commentary & Essay Writing.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Knowledge of aspects of the cultures, communities and societies where target language is used, namely multilingual Spain, Latin America and Equatorial Guinea.
• Knowledge, awareness and understanding of one or more cultures and societies, other than their own.
• Familiarity with the methodologies and approaches appropriate to the discipline of feminist translation studies applied to women writers in a Hispanic context.
• Ability to access, read and critically analyse primary and secondary source materials in target language.
• Intercultural awareness, understanding and competence.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students' linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students' ability to engage with aspects of Hispanic culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students' awareness of gender-conscious approaches to translation applied to women's writing and LGBT+ texts will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.