The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1257392
@Linguist_CIOL FEATURES BEYOND MAINSTREAM Nariman Youssef's workshop on translating Arabic web-comics in teaching can have a broader impact on young people's development as sensitive and socially engaged global citizens. A large proportion of the students also expressed their intention to explore more literature, music and film from other cultures, and to learn more languages. In a time of closing borders, and persistent eurocentrism, these aspirations of the next generation of linguists should be seen as a point of hope. At Shadow Heroes, we are continuing to develop new workshop series that give a platform to perspectives that are still too often marginalised, offering students the toolkit to address complex issues and listen to others on their own terms. Visit www.shadowheroes.org or Twitter @shadow_heroes to find out more about Shadow Heroes, our collaborators and our workshops. end of the workshop, a single starting text had sparked a collection of radically different film interpretations, with settings ranging from a New York mafia den to a French summer camp to a dystopian future. Each workshop is designed to build on the skills learnt in the previous week. The second workshop in this series, led by translators Sawad Hussain and Nariman Youssef, focused on translating Arabic web-comics. It developed students' understanding of translation as a process of mediation by getting them to think about how a translator might translate differently depending on their readership. Students were introduced to the concepts of domesticating and foreignising in translation, putting these into practice as two groups translated the same comic to different briefs. Comparing the results at the end of the workshop allowed for critical debate on the merits and the difficulties of both methods, and the ways a translator could find a middle ground. This workshop was followed by 'A Translator's Tour of Turkish Pop', in which Ayça Türkoğlu introduced students to the rich, multi-rooted pop music scene in Turkey. Experimenting with voice, rhyme and rhythm, students translated a Turkish hit single in the style of a UK artist. A particular focus was on how to approach the translation of sound and onomatopoeia. Students discussed various options for translating hüp, the sound of quickly sipping hot tea, learning that translation is all about deliberate decision- making and compromise. Yuka Harada-Parr's workshop, 'Translating a Dragon Ball Z Trailer', nuanced classroom discussions about the complexities of translating voice by introducing students to Yakuwarigo – Japanese role language. Here students grappled with a linguistic system that has no direct equivalent in English, and worked to re-inject the humour which the current English language dubbing of Dragon Ball largely sidelines. In their feedback, a number of students noted how they had particularly enjoyed working with these cultural frameworks that were previously unknown to them. I led the final workshop of the series, which looked at the politics of translating slang. It was tailored to reflect the students' affinity for working with sound, music and spoken word, which had become evident through the series. Students rounded off the programme by performing their translations of a Brazilian rap song. Having worked through different techniques and approaches in earlier workshops, they were given a freer rein to shape their own translation strategies, and the work they produced was striking in its eloquent engagement with pressing social issues in the UK. When asked what they had taken away from this series, students' responses included "being more open minded", realising the "importance of context", "thinking outside the box", learning to "see patterns in languages, even if I don't understand the whole thing", and learning "resilience". One teacher at William Ellis School remarked that the Shadow Heroes workshops "made students really think about how and what they were learning". The feedback illustrates that, beyond giving students a taste of a particular career path, harnessing the power of translation Harnessing the power of translation in teaching can have a broad impact on young people's development