AJP69039 Translation-specific tendencies

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
None.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course focuses on phenomena previously referred to in literature as "translation univresals", specifically in non-literary translation. The course attempts to answer the following questions: Are texts created as translations in any way different from original, untranslated texts (in the same language)? If so, how can these differences be described? Translation-specific tendencies will be understood as phenomena with a higher distribution in translated texts than non-translated texts, disregarding the source language. Theyvinclude on the one hand simplification, conventionalization, lexical phrases untypical of the target language, lower distribution of lexis specific to the target language (all that compared with non-translated texts in the same language) and on the other hand text lengthening, interference, standardization, explicitation, dialect normalization, narrative point of view simplification, use of more conventional collocations, reduction of repetition (compared with source texts). These phenomena will be identified and studied in non-literary texts translated from English and students will learn about the methods and results of research in this branch of Translation Studies. Each student is going to use both her/his own translations and ad-hoc corpora of non-literary translations and/or publically available corpora such as BNC,COCA and CNK. Touching upon the very essence of what translation is, exploring translation-specific tendencies represents an exciting point of view for contemplating translation. Students will explore translations of non-literary texts systematically and learn the basics of the methodology used in this type of research, which may lead to formulation of diploma theses projects. From the practical point of view, students will expand their ability of critical reflection in the process of translating.
Learning outcomes
- Increased awareness of general and one's own repeating tendencies in translation, ability to control the latter when needed.
- Increased sensitivity to translations shifts.
- Ability to work use corpus tools as for collecting translation-relevant information.
- Orientation in empirical-based concepts in TS.
Syllabus
  • (1) Goals and methods of the course, introduction to the field, basic concepts. Wrok with the introductory text – conceptualizing universals using a bottom-up approach. Literature: Chesterman (2004).
  • (2) S- and T-universals. Individual work with the introductory text (by sections) – joint discussion. Universals and descriptivism in translation studies. Literature: Klaudy (1998). Comparison of terminologies. (Chesterman vs. Routledge).
  • (3) The explicitation hypothesis and its testing. Linn Overas: „In search of the third code“ (1986). What, how and why do we explicitate in translation? Explicitation from the speaker’s point of view and explicitation from the point of view of depicted reality.
  • (4) Translation-specific tendencies and the use of corpora in translation studies. Application of the terminology on other texts.
  • (5) Translation-specific tendencies in students’ own texts – analysis and feedback. Type/token ratio; lexical density.
  • (6) Simplification in non-literary texts. Literature: Laviosa (1996) a (1998). Comparison of research results. Simplification in students’ own texts.
  • (7) Normalization / conventionalization; shift towards more conventional collocations. Literature: Kenny (1999). To which extent is normalization relevant to non-literary texts? Manual analysis of text samples.
  • (8) Employing AntConc software for analysis in translation studies. Illustrations and application tips.
  • (9) Explicitation in subtitling. Literature: Perego (2003).
  • (10) The lower frequency of TL-specific items. Literature: Tirkkonen-Condit (2004).
  • (11) Explicitation and cohesion. Literature: Hopkinson. Length of translated text. Interfence. Literature: Mauranen (2004).
  • (12) Style in translation vs. style of translation (in the context of translation-specific tendencies). Literature: Baker (2000).
  • (13) Survey of supplementary literature. Tips for final projects; project consutations.
Literature
  • MAURANEN, Anna and Pekka KUJAMÄKI. Translation universals: do they exist? Amsterdam, Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Publishing Company, 2004, 224 pp. info
  • Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. Edited by Kirsten Malmkjaer - Mona Baker. London: Routledge, 1998, xviii, 654. ISBN 0-415-09380-5. info
  • OVERAS, Linn. In Search of the Third Code. 1988, 571-588. Meta, XLIII, 4. info
  • BAKER, Mona and Maeve OLOHAN. Reporting that in Translated English: Evidence for Subconscious Processes of Explicitation? 2002, 141-158. Across Languages and Cultures 1(2). info
  • BLUM-KULKA, Shoshana. Shifts of Cohesion and Coherence in Translation. Tübingen: Gűnter Narr, 1996, 17-35. Interlingual and Intercultural Communication. info
  • LAVIOSA-BRAITHWAITE, Sara. Investigating Simplification in English Comparable Corpus of Newspaper Articles. Szombathely: Daniel Berzsenyi College Printing Press, 1996, 531-540. info
  • LAVIOSA, Sara. Corpus-based Translation Studies. Theory, findings, applications. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, 2002, 138 pp. ISBN 9042014873. info
Teaching methods
Manual translation analysis, corpus-based translation analysis, research paper reading and discussion, small-scale research project including methodology design and material base planning.
Assessment methods
Seminars. Compulsory attendance; students are expected to prepare for classes on a regular basis - by reading assigned texts and analysing translations. The course concludes with a credit test (to demosntrate general knowledge of the topics studied) and an exam consisting in preparing and submitting a final project, whose design and planning will be discussed int he final seminars.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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