Department of Japanese Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures HKU

In this course students will learn how to read and translate modern and contemporary Japanese fictional texts, from Yoshimoto Banana to Natsume Sōseki. The first half of the course concentrates on postwar and contemporary writers and the second half on pre-war writers. Objectives of the course are reading for speed and accuracy, understanding grammatical structure, learning the fundamental techniques of translation, and acquiring significant exposure to modern Japanese literature. We will not only pay close attention to the grammatically and syntactically correct reading and understanding of the Japanese texts but also in particular to problems pertaining to linguistic choice and idiomatic accuracy in English. The final project will aim at an impeccable translation of potentially publishable quality in English.

Elective Course
JAPN3007	Translation (Japanese–English): Reading and translating modern Japanese literature	6 credits

In this course students will learn how to read and translate modern and contemporary Japanese fictional texts, from Yoshimoto Banana to Natsume Sōseki. The first half of the course concentrates on postwar and contemporary writers and the second half on pre-war writers. Objectives of the course are reading for speed and accuracy, understanding grammatical structure, learning the fundamental techniques of translation, and acquiring significant exposure to modern Japanese literature. We will not only pay close attention to the grammatically and syntactically correct reading and understanding of the Japanese texts but also in particular to problems pertaining to linguistic choice and idiomatic accuracy in English. The final project will aim at an impeccable translation of potentially publishable quality in English.

Co-requisite: JAPN3088. Japanese language III (Part 1) and JAPN3099. Japanese language III (Part 2), or JAPN4088. Japanese language IV (Part 1) and JAPN4099. Japanese language IV (Part 2): Capstone experience
Assessment: 100 % coursework
(Not on offer in 2020/2021)