LINGUAGGI SETTORIALI E TRADUZIONE NEGLI USA

The course will focus on the grammatical, phonetic, and lexical aspects of American English, with attention to its regional variations, as well as to its distinctions from British English. Part of the course will focus on reading, comprehension and critical discussion of selected texts, and translation work from and to American English will be deeply encouraged, especially with regard to specialized languages of the contemporary American context. The course will aim at the acquisition of B2/C1 levels.

Frontal lessons, seminars, lab and classroom practice.

Third year language major students should start out at a low C1 level in all four of the language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), and work towards a higher C1 level by the end of the academic year. The third-year program targets ESP and the course will concentrate on and reinforce the students’ reading and writing skills, with an initial focus on the study of translation theories and on translation practice from American English into Italian (practice texts will include poetry, fiction, essays and audiovisual material). Main formative goals will also include writing practice - academic essay writing - guided by the use of texts indicated below. The course’s specific topic will be: MIGRANCY, TRAVEL AND TRANSLATION IN AMERICAN NARRATIVES AND CULTURE.

Susan Bassnett (ed.), “ Translation Studies”, Routledge, RUP, 2002.

George Santayana, “The Philosophy of Travel” .The Birth of Reason and Other Essays, New York, Columbia UP, 1966.

Lawrence Venuti (ed.), “The Translation Studies Reader” Bundle,Nottingham, 2000.

Pico Iyer, “Why We Travel”. Wanderlust: Real-Life Tales of Adventure and Romance, Don George (ed.), New York, Penguin Random House, 2001.

Excerpts from

Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad.

Henry James, Daisy Miller.

Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises.

James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room.

Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies.

Mohsin Amid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Nell Freudenberger, Lucky Girls.

Dictionaries:

Merriam Webster (online version);

Roget’s Thesaurus (online version);

Wordreference (www.wordreference.com).

Further reading and audiovisual material for analysis and translation practice will be provided during the course.