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LITERARY TRANSLATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Communicative approaches to language teaching are the current focus on oral

proficiency and are calling for the reassessment of the use of literary texts in the language

classroom. Literary readings have always been considered part of a humanistic education

and have been present in the foreign language curriculum. They are still used in language

classes, especially at the intermediate and advanced levels, and the discussion and

translation of literary texts is often part of the same syllabus as the communication-

oriented exercises for the development of oral skills. Unfortunately, literary texts are

often taught as finished products, to be unilaterally decoded, analyzed and explained.

One problem with translating texts arises at the point where the students are

confronted with literary texts and, as they had been accustomed at the elementary level,

they are tempted to think that the meaning of the text seems coextensive with the

dictionary translation. Authentic literary writings require other strategies in addition to

the word recognition and recall techniques employed with the fabricated texts. Pupils

need to be taught how to not only read a text on the surface, but to think of the deeper

meaning, reading between the lines and thus, to be able to do a more accurate translation.

Sometimes the text cannot be decoded as taken out of context and if the context is not

provided, the teacher has to intervene and draw an image which might help the studentsto find the right path. The literary and cultural framework is very important in decoding a

literary text and the recourse to a dictionary is not always the best solution.

Meaning is culture-specific and constructed with the background knowledge

that one brings to the transaction with a text. Literary text in particular is inseparable

from its social and cultural origins and the task of translation involves students first in an

understanding of the L1 text with conscious application of their own L1 background. In

their transaction with the L1 text they work to construct an equivalent written L2

(English) text that reproduces the greatest possible degree of meaning of the original text.

Texts need to be carefully chosen as to enable pupils an informative and instructive

encounter with the foreign language and to serve as a vehicle for language learning. As

students are deeply engaged with the content of the literary text and its meaning through

the translation process, they enhance their awareness and understanding of their own

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society and culture. Furthermore, they learn to extend that awareness and understanding

to other peoples, cultures, and issues on a global scale wherein we all share a common

humanity. Indeed, this experience starts in the classroom itself where a genuine

collaborative process makes up the essential methodology for this kind of translation.

In their translation work, students engage deeply in a process that involves the full

range of basic language skills and the principle tenets of communicative language

learning. In the context of EFL instruction, both process and product are given full

attention in the translation endeavor. There is continual reading of the original literary

text, along with drafting, consulting dictionaries, reflecting, collaborating, revising,

polishing, and editing in the production of the individual final copies. Translation

definitely is something that needs to be discussed and teacher-student collaboration and

peer collaboration within a cooperative learning environment are important components

of the process. In pairs and small groups, students exchange their opinions and ideas

regarding the interpretation of the original text and discuss various aspects of target

language use such as word choice, syntax, style and the meanings conveyed by specific

linguistic choices. They compare tentative translations, appreciating and criticizing them

in the effort each to produce a more accurate and fluent version. The teachers role is to

supervise, to draw attention to problems, to offer alternatives and to suggest possibilities.

The unique challenge of translating poetry takes learners a significant step

further in their encounter with both languages. A readers transaction with the text of a

poem is unique. Learners are able to respond to it in their own way. The construction of

meaning involves not only ones background knowledge and experience, but also ones

feelings and emotions.A successfully translated poem is always another poem.To conclude, literary translation merits far greater attention and needs to be

appreciated and applied on a far greater scale in the world of EFL instruction. Students

working with selected texts from a rich field of literature in their native language can

generate remarkable English language products, and the other way around, through a

comprehensive translation writing process. At the same time, this approach can bring

about an extraordinary coupling of language learning and the human spirit.

SILVANA SORITAU

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