Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

Translating Japanese Texts

The course aims to provide intermediate and upper-intermediate level knowledge of the Japanese language.
At the end of the course, students will acquire competences in the four communicative skills envisaged by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) at a level of C1 - C2 (level N2 towards level N1 of the JLPT - Japanese Language Proficiency Test).

The focus of the teacher's course will be on the translation of highly complex texts from Japanese into Italian. After an introduction to the characteristics of the Japanese language and the difficulties of translation, texts of various kinds - technical, commercial and informative - to be translated into Italian will be examined and, taking advantage of the hybrid nature and intrinsic linguistic heterogeneity of a medium of great social and cultural significance, manga will be translated in the Japanese context. 

This course will help the student to develop the skills necessary to work in the field of translation, both literary and non-literary.

Lettorato

Complete knowledge of the grammatical structures of the Japanese language at the intermediate-advanced level and how they function.
Complete knowledge of the writing system and vocabulary of Japanese language at intermediate and advanced levels.
Know and understand the written and oral register variations of the Japanese language at an advanced level.

Main course

To know and understand in a scientific way the specific concepts and terminology used to describe the phenomena studied, the sectorial languages including manga language, the relative translation strategies; finally, to know how to put them into practice effectively.

• Understand the typology of a text and translate it according into its specific needs;
• Translate, edit and submit properly a complex text;
• Explain the translation strategies adopted;
• Evaluate critically the quality of a translation.

Teaching methods

For the 2022-2023 academic year, a "in presence" teaching method will be adopted, involving face-to-face teaching. 

The MOODLE will be used to upload materials used in lectures for presentations and other purposes.

Lectures will NOT be transmitted in streaming neither recorded, but any material used and/or support will be uploaded, together with audio/visual material for those who are unable to attend.

Attendance is not compulsory, but strongly recommended.

The acquisition of learning outcomes will be verified through the following methods:
1) Written exam aimed at verifying the skills of: grammar, reading and comprehension, translation and written production (written exam of the lettorato).
2) Oral exam aimed at verifying the skills of oral comprehension and production (oral exam of the lettorato).
3) Final translation exam (course by Prof. Ozumi). After the presentation in class of a chosen text previously approved by the teacher, the student will write a paper which will include the source text and target text (presented in class); brief introduction with state-of-the-art translation from Japanese; motivations for the translation choices and strategies adopted. The essay with bibliographic references, must be submitted to the teacher at least 10 days before the oral exam, which will be a discussion of the paper and the contents of the course.

Students must take the three exams in the above stated order: passing each test is a prerequisite and essential to access the next one. The final grade will be obtained by averaging between the mark of the lectorate exam (written and oral average) and the mark of the language exam.

Attendance is not compulsory, but strongly recommended.

Constant participation and engagement demonstrated through the performance of the assigned tasks and participation in collateral activities (e.g. translation seminars) may add up to two points in the overall final assessment of the exam.

Materials and resources uploaded in Moodle.

This 54 hours course will be carried out through lectures and seminar activities focused on the translation from Japanese and its specificities.

In particular, the following topics will be addressed:
- the source texts and their translation strategies;
- the differences between translation, localization and adaptation;
- translation errors;
- the target texts and their revisions.

Examples of complex, sectorial and specialized Japanese texts already translated will be shown. For this reason, it is essential to have a solid knowledge of intermediate Japanese; however, given the nature of the course, it is equally essential to have an excellent knowledge of the Italian language.

After an introduction on the characteristics of the Japanese language and its translation difficulties, texts of various kinds will be examined to be translated together into Italian. Texts of various technical and sectorial nature will be analyzed and translated. Then, given the hybrid nature and the intrinsic linguistic heterogeneity of a medium of great social and cultural impact in the Japanese and international context, the students will challenge manga translation.

During the last lessons, students will have to make a presentation with the translation of a text of their choice, previously approved by the teacher, explaining the translation strategies. The maximum time for each presentation will be ten minutes, and the presentation grade will be part of the final evaluation. During the presentations, in addition to the ability to apply the translation strategies explained during the course, the mastery of the Italian language and the ability to present one's work will also be assessed.

FURTHER RECOMMENDED READINGS ABOUT MANGA

Giacomo Calorio, "Tradurre il manga: vincoli, negoziati, interlocutori", De Peazza A. (a cura di), L'intraducibile - La comunicazione interculturale e la traducibilità, Mimesis Edizioni, Sesto San Giovanni 2021.

Asuka Ozumi, "Onomatopee giapponesi - Strategie di traduzione nel romanzo e nel manga", Manga Academica, n. 2, La Torre, San Marco Evangelista 2009.

Jean-Marie Bouissou, Il manga - Storia e universi del fumetto giapponese, Tunué, Roma 2011.

Paul Gravett, Manga - Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, Lawrence King Publishing, London 2004.

Scott McCloud, Capire, fare e reinventare il fumetto, Bao Publishing, Milano 2018.

Cristian Posocco, MangArt - Forme estetiche e linguaggio del fumetto giapponese, Costa & Nolan, Milano 2005.

RECOMMENDED GRAMMAR TEXTBOOKS

Matilde Mastrangelo, Naoko Ozawa, Mariko Saito, Grammatica Giapponese (seconda edizione), Milano, Hoepli, 2016
Makino, Tsutsui, A dictionary of Intermediate Japanese grammar, The Japan Times 1995
Makino, Tsutsui, A dictionary of Advanced Japanese grammar, The Japan Times 2008

An electronic dictionary is highly recommended for those who don't already have one.

Alternatively, there are valid apps, but we recommend purchasing the Shogakukan Italian-Japanese and Japanese-Italian dictionary.

Students interested in incorporating Japanese Language 1 into their studies are strongly encouraged to register for the course so that communication with the teacher can be facilitated (via the mailing list).

Further readings will be given during the course.