Translation and Scholarship
Translation Studies has begun to emerge as a major field in the humanities. The act of translating literature has become more properly recognized as a major scholarly and creative contribution; the study of literary translation has gained solid ground in the academy as numerous translation centers are founded at various universities; and, finally, the concept of translation has emerged as an innovative way to think about literature and culture across national and linguistic borders.
The Center for Translation Studies has long been an advocate for the scholarly value of translation – especially as it relates to tenure and promotion. Often called upon to make the case for the scholarly value of translations, the Center has drafted a document on “Translation and Academic Promotion and Tenure.”
“Simply put, one’s primary responsibility as a translator — to the reader, to the foreign author, to the text one is translating, to the culture that engendered it, and to oneself as a committed, caring professional — is to create a literary work in its own right, to the best of one’s abilities and by whatever means appropriate: one that credibly represents the uniqueness of the source text, but also one that exudes as much life as the source text, and yields as much pleasure.”
Mark Polizzotti
Academic Translation Programs
- Banff International Literary Translation Center
- Barnard College, Comparative Literature and Translation Studies
- Binghamton University, Translation Research and Instruction Program
- University of Hawaii, Center for Interpretation and Translation Studies
- Indiana University, Bloomington, Department of Comparative Literature
- Kent State University Online MA in Translation
- Literary Translation at Columbia (LTAC)
- Princeton Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication
- University of Arkansas, Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies
- University of Illinois, Program in Translation and Interpreting Studies
- University of Iowa, MFA Program in Literary Translation
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Translation Center
- University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Literary and Cultural Studies
- University of Rochester, Literary Translation Studies
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Translation and Interpreting Studies