Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin In brief Speakers - Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin (University of Edinburgh) Titles - 'Translating heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish fiction into German – exploring the use of target language dialects as a translation strategy' (Karin Bosshard) and 'Literal versus Double Aim: Two Approaches to Poetry Translation' (Rachel Rankin) Venue - 50 George Square or online on Collaborate Learn Entry is free and everyone is welcome. No booking is required if attending in person but, if you'd like to join us online, please get in touch and ask for a joining link. Ask us for a link to join this seminar online Abstracts Translating heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish fiction into German – exploring the use of target language dialects as a translation strategy by Karin Bosshard Ian Stephen’s novel A Book of Death and Fish (2014), set on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, presents an idiosyncratic blend of languages and linguistic varieties: colloquial Scottish English, Hebridean dialect, Gaelic and dialects of Scots. My presentation investigates the particular case of north-east Scots in the text and the challenges and opportunities it poses for a translation which seeks to recreate the novel’s heteroglossia. Of the strategies available to translators when dealing with such linguistic variation in a text, using regional dialects of the target language has often been viewed most critically, by practitioners and theorists of translation alike. Criticism centres on the (un)translatability of regional dialects, the perceived risk of introducing stereotypes and the tensions arising from ties between language and place. Discussing a short extract from A Book of Death and Fish and my German translation, I will address these challenges from a theoretical and practical perspective, seeking to counter some of the arguments against dialect-to-dialect translation, in particular those relating to language and place. I am hoping to demonstrate how regional dialects, in this case a Swiss German dialect, can help retain the narrative function and aesthetic force of the Scots as well as the text’s heteroglossia in translation. Literal versus Double Aim: Two Approaches to Poetry Translation By Rachel Rankin In the introduction to the essay collection Translating Poetry, Weissbort states that there are as many approaches to poetry translation as there are poetry translators (xiii). Despite this, it is not uncommon for poetry translators and scholars to hold strong views regarding the approach they perceive as being the most appropriate. These attitudes tend to depend on what the translator or scholar in question believes when it comes to poetic (un)translatability, as well as what they perceive to be the audience and/or function of the translation itself. In this talk, I will discuss two different approaches to poetry translation, namely the literal approach (as championed by Burnshaw and Nabokov) and the double aim approach (as championed by Holmes). I will outline the characteristics of each approach and discuss where they fall on the spectrum of poetic (un)translatability. I will then discuss how I am engaging with these methods and compare and contrast practical examples of poems I have translated accordingly. Finally, I will briefly discuss a third approach to poetry translation – Folkart’s “poetically viable translation” – with the aim of presenting poetry translation not as a fixed impossibility but as fluid expression of creativity. About the speakers Rachel Rankin is a third-year PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. Her research uses a practice-based methodology in order to creatively illustrate the hermeneutic/instrumentalist debate within poetry translation scholarship. She is supervised by staff in both Scandinavian Studies and Translation Studies and is carrying out this research with support from the Northern Scholars PhD Scholarship. Karin Bosshard submitted her PhD in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh in January 2023 and is currently preparing for her viva. In her thesis, she explores literary heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish prose fiction and its translation, in particular into German. With its iterative practice-based methodology, Karin’s thesis also aims to shed new light on the role of the translator-researcher and the function of translation practice as a research tool. Karin is a part-time teaching fellow in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh and a freelance translator working from English and French into German. Her German translation of Victoria MacKenzie’s short story "Talking about Lobsters" was published in the Swiss literary journal Das Narr (2021). About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and gain experience. This semester, the students are Katherine Heller and Aaliyah Charbenny. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Mar 08 2023 16.00 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin Join us for a free hybrid seminar by Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin (University of Edinburgh) discussing their current research. Room G.02, 50 George Square University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH8 9LH or online via Collaborate Learn Find the venue: 50 George Square
Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin In brief Speakers - Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin (University of Edinburgh) Titles - 'Translating heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish fiction into German – exploring the use of target language dialects as a translation strategy' (Karin Bosshard) and 'Literal versus Double Aim: Two Approaches to Poetry Translation' (Rachel Rankin) Venue - 50 George Square or online on Collaborate Learn Entry is free and everyone is welcome. No booking is required if attending in person but, if you'd like to join us online, please get in touch and ask for a joining link. Ask us for a link to join this seminar online Abstracts Translating heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish fiction into German – exploring the use of target language dialects as a translation strategy by Karin Bosshard Ian Stephen’s novel A Book of Death and Fish (2014), set on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, presents an idiosyncratic blend of languages and linguistic varieties: colloquial Scottish English, Hebridean dialect, Gaelic and dialects of Scots. My presentation investigates the particular case of north-east Scots in the text and the challenges and opportunities it poses for a translation which seeks to recreate the novel’s heteroglossia. Of the strategies available to translators when dealing with such linguistic variation in a text, using regional dialects of the target language has often been viewed most critically, by practitioners and theorists of translation alike. Criticism centres on the (un)translatability of regional dialects, the perceived risk of introducing stereotypes and the tensions arising from ties between language and place. Discussing a short extract from A Book of Death and Fish and my German translation, I will address these challenges from a theoretical and practical perspective, seeking to counter some of the arguments against dialect-to-dialect translation, in particular those relating to language and place. I am hoping to demonstrate how regional dialects, in this case a Swiss German dialect, can help retain the narrative function and aesthetic force of the Scots as well as the text’s heteroglossia in translation. Literal versus Double Aim: Two Approaches to Poetry Translation By Rachel Rankin In the introduction to the essay collection Translating Poetry, Weissbort states that there are as many approaches to poetry translation as there are poetry translators (xiii). Despite this, it is not uncommon for poetry translators and scholars to hold strong views regarding the approach they perceive as being the most appropriate. These attitudes tend to depend on what the translator or scholar in question believes when it comes to poetic (un)translatability, as well as what they perceive to be the audience and/or function of the translation itself. In this talk, I will discuss two different approaches to poetry translation, namely the literal approach (as championed by Burnshaw and Nabokov) and the double aim approach (as championed by Holmes). I will outline the characteristics of each approach and discuss where they fall on the spectrum of poetic (un)translatability. I will then discuss how I am engaging with these methods and compare and contrast practical examples of poems I have translated accordingly. Finally, I will briefly discuss a third approach to poetry translation – Folkart’s “poetically viable translation” – with the aim of presenting poetry translation not as a fixed impossibility but as fluid expression of creativity. About the speakers Rachel Rankin is a third-year PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. Her research uses a practice-based methodology in order to creatively illustrate the hermeneutic/instrumentalist debate within poetry translation scholarship. She is supervised by staff in both Scandinavian Studies and Translation Studies and is carrying out this research with support from the Northern Scholars PhD Scholarship. Karin Bosshard submitted her PhD in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh in January 2023 and is currently preparing for her viva. In her thesis, she explores literary heteroglossia in contemporary Scottish prose fiction and its translation, in particular into German. With its iterative practice-based methodology, Karin’s thesis also aims to shed new light on the role of the translator-researcher and the function of translation practice as a research tool. Karin is a part-time teaching fellow in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh and a freelance translator working from English and French into German. Her German translation of Victoria MacKenzie’s short story "Talking about Lobsters" was published in the Swiss literary journal Das Narr (2021). About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and gain experience. This semester, the students are Katherine Heller and Aaliyah Charbenny. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Mar 08 2023 16.00 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin Join us for a free hybrid seminar by Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin (University of Edinburgh) discussing their current research. Room G.02, 50 George Square University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH8 9LH or online via Collaborate Learn Find the venue: 50 George Square
Mar 08 2023 16.00 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin Join us for a free hybrid seminar by Karin Bosshard and Rachel Rankin (University of Edinburgh) discussing their current research.
