Proposed translation track, Literature Major 1
Proposed Translation Track in the Literature Major
Synopsis
Students may elect to pursue a translation concentration within the Literature Major.
Students in the translation track fulfill the same requirements as those in the standard
Literature Major, with the following exceptions. Instead of LITR 122 or LITR 143, students in this track take a course in theory and practice of translation as one of the prerequisites to the major. In addition, students in this track take three courses in translation issues in place of the three electives in the standard major. This makes a total of four required courses in translation theory and practice.
Background
The translation track emerged first as a response to student demand from the major’s student advisory committee. The issue was discussed in several faculty meetings, and the faculty approved of the creation of a "track" that would familiarize students with theoretical questions raised by the practice of translation, as well as with the practice of translation itself. The faculty agrees that translation studies are becoming more and more urgent in the globalized world we live in. The ability to bridge worlds among different cultures/languages on the basis of interpretative skills acquired through the study of translation is becoming highly valuable in the job market today.An introduction to the questions involved in translation may open fruitful career paths for students and may foster the in-depth study of languages that has been central to the Literature Major.
In the academic world, translation studies are on the rise. Just around the area where we are, Translation Studies programs, certificates, "options," or "tracks," exist at Barnard
College, NYU, the Graduate Center at CUNY, SUNY Binghamton, Pittsburgh University,
Brown University, Penn State University, SUNY Albany, Columbia University, Rutgers
University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Boston College, and UMASS at
Amherst.
At Yale the Literature Major faculty would like to be at the forefront of a new initiative that we hope will grow and will take translation as a serious academic endeavor. Translation places the study of language at the core of globalization and its political and cultural phenomena. Within the domestic sphere of the USA, the non-anglophone population is growing faster than ever before, and students with an awareness and some initial training in questions of translation and interpretation may be at an advantage to pursue the kind of work that makes a difference in legal and medical professions, as well as in the humanities.
But most important for the Literature Major is the fact that we work on "translation issues" on a daily basis, at the level of culture and artistic form. Our work is on foreign languages,

Proposed translation track, Literature Major 2 and in every class we need to consider at some point in the semester issues concerning the translations of the texts with which we teach. Translation is central to our academic conversation, and we think the time has come to formalize this conversation with course work that directly and specifically tackles theories, questions, meditations upon the fact that to do comparative work, we are required to engage with translation.
We also understand the practice and theory of translation as encompassing issues of cultural reception, for instance between antiquity and modernity, and of transference between the arts, such as dance into film (taught by Emily Coates) or theatricality in film
(taught by Brigitte Peucker). The DUS should therefore have latitude to decide if courses fit into this wider definition of translation. In the future, faculty in the department will engage in creating more alternatives directly related to translation.
Within the department of Comparative Literature we currently have faculty actively engaged in the practice of translation: Ben Baer and myself have translated from and into
English; Dudley Andrew has written on other forms of translation such as adaptation; Peter
Cole has been hired to teach translation on a regular basis for the next five years, Barbara
Harshav currently teaches seminars on translation; Adriana Jacobs (postdoctoral fellow) has taught translation for the past two years.
This year the department has launched a new prize honoring the life and work of Richard
Maxwell, who passed away in 2010, to be given for translation work exclusively. As of
April 21, 2013, we have received 15 submissions from students across departments on campus; their languages range from Spanish, to French, to Latin, Ancient Greek, Turkish,
Japanese, German, Chinese, Hebrew, and two poems in unusual languages for Yale campus, one in Urdu and the other in Yindjibarndi, an aboriginal language of Western
Australia – the philosophy major who is undertaking the translation of a poem in this language has actually obtained a contract with Norton to publish a edited collection of his translation; I was the faculty member who supported him with a letter to the press.
We hope to build this track and create, eventually, a strong presence of translation studies at Yale. For the time being, students choosing this option count on Peter Cole's course on translation as their "required theory course" and can choose three other courses across departments that engage with some aspect of translation studies.
Courses in translation studies (taught 2012–2013 unless noted)
LITR 099/FILM 099, Film and the Arts. Dudley Andrew.
LITR 150/CLCV 210/HUMS 273/MGRK 217, Receptions of Odysseus in Literature and
Drama. George Syrimis.

Proposed translation track, Literature Major 3
LITR 152/HUMS 385/LING 111/SAST 456, Sanskit Classics in Translation. David Brick.
LITR 153/CLCV 265/HUMS 456, Contemporary Reception of Greek and Roman Classics.
Emily Greenwood.
LITR 156/SAST 461, Indian Texts and Contexts. Ben Conisbee Baer.
LITR 201/JDST 314, Transnational Encounters in Contemporary Israeli Poetry. Adriana
Jacobs.
LITR 256, Jewish Latin American Literature. Adriana Jacobs.
LITR 274/SAST 374, Modern Literature in translation. Ben Conisbee Baer.
LITR 302, Translation: Theoretical and Practical Issues. Barbara Harshav. (Last offered fall 2011; to be offered fall 2013)
LITR 306, Poetry and Translation. Adriana Jacobs.
LITR 327/GMAN 388/GMST 369/HUMS 410/RLST 322, Translating the Sacred. Hindy
Najman. (To be offered fall 2013)
LITR 348/JDST 316/HUMS 427, The Practice of Literary Translation. Peter Cole.
LITR 409, Transnational Modernism. Ben Conisbee Baer.
LITR 464/FILM 464/ENGL 404, Film and Fiction. Dudley Andrew, David Bromwich.
HUMS 442/CLCV 312/NELC 315, Translating the Hero. Kathryn Slanski. (Last offered spring 2011; to be offered spring 2014)
THST 099/FILM 045, Dance on Film. Emily Coates.
In addition, in 2012–2013, 90 courses were listed as “taught in translation” by the following departments and programs:
African Studies
Classics
East Asian Languages and Literatures
English [required no knowledge of
Celtic languages]
Film Studies
French
German
German Studies
Hellenic Studies
Humanities
Italian
Judaic Studies
Latin American Studies
Literature
Modern Middle East Studies
Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations
Portuguese
Religious Studies
Russian and East European Studies
Slavic Languages and Literatures
South Asian Studies
Spanish
Theater Studies
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Proposed translation track, Literature Major
YCPS major requirements summary
Current
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR
Prerequisites Both tracks
—LITR 120; completion of Yale College foreign lang distributional req; Standard track
—LITR 122;
Film track
—LITR 143
Number of courses 12 term courses beyond prereqs (incl senior essay)
Specific course required LITR 300
Distribution of courses Both tracks
—1 course in lit before 1800; 1 course in poetry or drama; 2 core sems; Standard track
—3 courses in 1 foreign lit, as specified;
Film track
—
2 courses in 1 foreign lit, as specified; 1 course in film theory; 3 electives in film studies
Substitution permitted Standard track —for 2 electives, 2 courses in another discipline, incl 1 in creative writing; a third course in another discipline for a lit elective, with DUS permission;1 advanced lang course for 1 of 3 req foreign lit courses, with DUS permission
Senior requirement One-term senior essay (LITR 491); or two-term senior essay
(LITR492 and 493); or 1 core sem (LITR 400–480) with senior sem essay
Intensive major 3 addtl courses in a second foreign lang in place of 3 electives; demonstrated command of the second foreign lang to L4 level.
Proposed
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR
Prerequisites All tracks
—LITR 120; completion of Yale College foreign lang distributional req; Standard track
—LITR 122;
Film track
—LITR 143;
Translation track
—LITR 348
Number of courses 12 term courses beyond prereqs (incl senior essay)
Specific course required LITR 300
Distribution of courses All tracks —1 course in lit before 1800; 1 course in poetry or drama; 2 core sems; Standard track —3 courses in 1 foreign lit, as specified; Film track —
2 courses in 1 foreign lit, as specified; 1 course in film theory; 3 electives in film studies;
Translation track
—3 electives in translation issues
Substitution permitted Standard track
—for 2 electives, 2 courses in another discipline, incl 1 in creative writing; a third course in another discipline for a lit elective, with DUS permission; 1 advanced lang course for 1 of 3 req foreign lit courses, with DUS permission
Senior requirement One-term senior essay (LITR 491); or two-term senior essay
(LITR492 and 493); or 1 core sem (LITR 400–480) with senior sem essay
Intensive major 3 addtl courses in a second foreign lang in place of 3 electives; demonstrated command of the second foreign lang to L4 level
4

Proposed translation track, Literature Major 5