EN3GLT: Global Literatures: Translation as Theme and Theory

Module code: EN3GLT

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Nicola Abram, email: n.l.abram@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): Before taking this module, you must have at least 40 credits of EN-coded modules at Part 1 (except for visiting students). (Open)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module invites students to engage with the global scope of contemporary literature, from 1980 to the present. Its central texts will span poetry, prose fiction (short stories and novels), prose non-fiction, and drama, some of which will be read in translation. Texts will be drawn from around the world, and this will require us to attend to histories of colonisation, migration, and globalisation.  

Our focus is on cross-cultural encounter, and the associated issues of communication and translation: these will be studied both as themes in the texts and as theoretical concepts. We will examine how far experiences and concepts are specific to their originary linguistic contexts, what happens in the ‘carrying across’ of translation, and what we can learn from moments of miscommunication and impassibility between languages, people, and places. We will give particular attention to the hybrid literary forms, syncretic languages, and practices of linguistic code-switching that emerge in what Mary Louise Pratt has termed “cultural contact zones”.  

The figure of the translator – both literal and fictional – will usefully complicate common-sense wisdom about the authority of the author. We will also consider the efforts of the publishing industry to mediate between cultures, through the use of alternative titles, book covers and marketing strategies. We will go on to reflect on our own roles and responsibilities as readers and book buyers in a global age. 

This module may be of particular interest to students intending to practice as translators or to work across cultures, and it will equip all participants to appreciate and articulate the ways in which language and literature make, unmake, and remake the world and its citizens. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate broad, deep, and coherent knowledge of English literature in its principal modes and genres: across poetry, prose, and drama; covering a range of historical periods; and comprehending the regional variety and global reach of the English language
2. Respond creatively and imaginatively to essay questions and research tasks, for the purpose of devising and sustaining arguments, and of reaching decisive judgments
3. Recognise what and how they have learnt, through self-reflection and through constructive dialogue with other people
4. Value personal, social, civic, and global perspectives, looking beyond any immediate task or question to its wider contexts

Module content

Each week we will engage with a different text, exploring its cultural context(s), relevant histories, and key conceptual concerns, and conducting a close reading of its language and form. Authors studied may include Leila Aboulela (Sudanese), Rabih Alameddine (Lebanese American), Gloria Anzaldúa (Chicana), Alessandro Baricco (Italian), Anita Desai (Indian), Brian Friel (Irish), Amitav Ghosh (Indian), and Haruki Murakami (Japanese), among others. There will also be opportunity to study texts that relate to current world events, to be determined in consultation as a seminar group.  

This module requires students to read texts with an awareness of different cultural contexts. Additional language skills (such as Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Latin, or Spanish) may be useful but are not necessary, as all texts will be studied in English.  

Theoretical and supplementary material may include essays by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Paul Bandia, Simon Gikandi, Mary Louise Pratt, Salman Rushdie, Tarek Shamma, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Ng"vg"j wa Thiong’o, and Lawrence Venuti. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will be required to work independently through a comprehensive collection of resources made available via Talis, including texts to read, films to watch, and audio recordings to listen to. Students will be expected to make their own notes on this material. An online discussion board will be made available for students to pose questions about this material for attention in class.  

We will meet for three seminar hours weekly. During seminars we will discuss the preparatory materials and students’ prepared questions. Students will engage in directed interactive activities related to the set materials, to deepen their understanding and to develop skills in close reading, critical thinking, and articulating an argument.  

Students will record their learning weekly using an online Learning Journal, which offers a private space to explore ideas, reflect on personal responses to the material, and make connections beyond the module.  

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Learning Journal entries have a formative function; the seminar tutor will offer one-to-one feedback after the submission of the first three entries, during the Week 4 Mid-semester break, and in-class guidance in Week 12 before students select their entries for summative assessment. 

Seminars will give students opportunity to develop skills in close reading and argumentation that will feed forward to the essay.  

Reassessment

Additional costs