Day 13
Tues. May 9
Discussion of Worksheet 2E
Discussion of Han Dong poem: image, metaphor, ambiguity
Intro to Christian Wiman poem, “Darkness Starts”
Reminders
➤ WORK ON your final challenge
Instructions for final challenge
Your final challenge translation is due on Monday of exam week; your translator’s note is due on Wednesday. See attached instruction sheet for details and important reminders. Don’t forget, word limit for your final translator’s note is 1000 words.
If you haven’t yet, make sure that before next class you’ve done the following:
1) Write a 3-5 sentence scenario for yourself similar to the ones I’ve written for all of our translation challenges so far. Make sure you outline clearly what you imagine the purpose of your translation to be — who might want to read it, why they might want to read it, and in what context it might be read.
2) Upload the text you plan to translate to the folder “Final challenge - texts and scenarios” on SharePoint. (If your text is audiovisual — e.g. a video — upload the mp4 if possible; if not, you can just post a link to it on the Internet.)
Homework due 8AM THURS (China time)
➤ READ AND TRANSLATE “DARKNESS STARTS” BY CHRISTIAN WIMAN
Annotated version of “Darkness Starts” (click to download)
Read this very short English poem, along with my annotations. In my annotations I explain all the things the poem suggests to my mind—what images it evokes and what symbolic or metaphorical connotations they have. (If you can’t see my annotations, please let me know!)
Please note that this is just one’s person’s reading of the poem (mine) but I do attempt to give as many possible different perspectives on the poem’s layers of meaning as possible. Not only will different readers perceive different things in the poem, but the same reader may simultaneously perceive different meanings.
Then, translate the poem into Chinese. Try to translate it in such a way that a Chinese reader might imagine some of the same kinds of things as I describe in my annotations, while also not limiting the reader to a particular reading or single understanding of the poem. In other words, try to translate it such a way that leaves the reader as much room for imagination as possible.
Upload your translation to Sakai.
Homework due before class on Thursday
➤ Read and vote on translations of “Darkness starts”
After the translations of “Darkness Starts” have been submitted I will share them anonymously with the class. Please read all the translations and vote for your favorite on Qualtrics.
➤ Read REtranslations of “Stunt Pilot” and Ser Serpas art review
Read your classmates’ retranslations of passages from “Stunt Pilot” and the review of Ser Serpas’ artwork. Come ready to share one passage whose new translation you find particularly evocative and interesting, and explain what you see in it.
