Translation (Oversættelse & Version), 3. sem. engelsk (almen)
Bent Sørensen

[Straight to course plan]

This course offers students the possibility of practical work in the field of translation. We shall work contrastively with the two languages involved, Danish and English.

During the 10 weeks of instruction you will be given theoretical tools to halp you cope with translation in practice, plus lots of exercise in actual translation tasks. The emphasis will be on work with texts that approach authentic translation tasks as much as possible. You will be asked to work with difficult texts from several text genres, predominantly non-fiction texts from the cultural, social and socio-political, commercial and political discourse spheres.

The course also includes work with take-home assignments that you may hand-in and have marked by the course teacher and discussed in class. 5 such assignments may be handed in by each student. All take-home assignments and other course tasks must be solved in electronic form preferably via Word documents or compatible formats. This allows the solutions to be shared more easily both via projector in class and via portfolios on the intranet.

For this class it is essential that you have access to the following resources:

1. A good bilingual dictionary, English-Danish as well as Danish-English: Kjærulff-Nielsen and Vinterberg & Bodelsen, respectively, are the best ones available.
2. At least one very good monolingual dictionary for English (Oxford, Longman, Collins or Webster) and for Danish (Retskrivningsordbogen or Politikens Nudansk)
3. Michael Swan: Practical English Usage, Third Edition (Oxford, 2005) [MAKE SURE YOU GET THE THIRD ED:!!]
4. Torben Vestergaard: Engelsk Grammatik
5. The AUB on-line portal of dictionaries and encyclopediae.
6. The package of source texts and background material - available from the course shelf or at the first session
7. Common sense and a good ear for languages (try e-Bay if all else fails)....

Translation theory provided will be drawn from a number of sources, primarily Peter Newmark : A Textbook of Translation.

Excerpts will be made available, but you can also acquire the whole book from Centerboghandelen or Amazon.co.uk

For the second half of the course we will be using Knud Sørensen: English and Dansih Contrasted
A master copy will be provided, but
you can also acquire the whole book from Centerboghandelen.

I heartily condone the list of additonal resources found in my colleague, Morten Berg Olesen's course description, so take a look at that here.


Course plan:

1. Friday, September 9: Introduction - what is translation, what is translation theory, why are these things good for me??? Resources - a presentation. Exercises

2.-5. Consecutive Fridays in September and October (weeks 37-40, incl.): Translation Danish-English.
Assignments (home-work) based on application of translation theory & in-class exercises and feedback.

List of assignments:

"Et samfund på piller"; Hand-in Wednesday, September 14 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 2, September 16
"Mit spanske hjerte"
- OR - "Idioterne"; Hand-in Wednesday, September 21 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 3, September 23
"Ord uden sandhed"; Hand-in Wednesday, September 28 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 4, September 30
"Sædelighedsfejden"; Hand-in Wednesday, October 5 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 5, October 7

Translation theory readings:

Session 2: Newmark: Chapters 1 & 2
Session 3:
Newmark: Chapter 3
Session 4:
Newmark: Chapter 4
Seesion 5: Newmark: Chapter 5

6-10. Consecutive Fridays in October and November (weeks 43-47, incl.): Translation English-Danish - as above

List of assignments:

"Attack of the Listless Lads" by Rebecca Traister; Hand-in Wednesday, October 26 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 6, October 28
"Dean Martin" by Steven Shaviro;
Hand-in Wednesday, November 2 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 7, November 4
"The Objects of Memory: Collecting Eternal Sunshine" by Frederika Shulman;
Hand-in Wednesday, November 9 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 8, November 11
"American Prose since 1945" from Norton Anthology of American Literature, vol. E; Hand-in Wednesday, November 16 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 9, November 18
"The Literature of Information" by Brooks Landon;
Hand-in Wednesday, November 23 before 4 p.m. - Feedback session 10, November 25

Translation theory readings:

Session 6: Knud Sørensen, §§ 1-8
Session 7: Knud Sørensen, §§ 9-20
Session 8: Knud Sørensen, §§ 21-44
Session 9: Knud Sørensen, §§ 45-60
Session 10: Knud Sørensen, §§ 61-82