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 students
to 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 teacher’s 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 reader’s 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 one’s background knowledge and experience, but also one’s
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