Translation Analysis Assignment
In this paper (5-10 pages) you will compare and contrast one or more passages of your choice from at least three different translations of one of the works we're reading this semester. Make sure you construct a strong thesis or argument that guides your analysis, which should clearly identify the distinguishing characteristics of each translation. You should also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each translation. If you have any familiarity at all with your text's original language, you should consult the original as well. If you choose to write about a prose translation of something originally written in verse, make sure you comment on how the translator's choice in this regard affects the translation.
Following the list of assigned texts below is a bibliography of translations available online and in the library. Feel free to use translations not listed here. For an older translation, you should do a bit of research on its historical context--this might affect your analsyis. Note that the editorial materials in our editions frequently make reference to other translations--this information might be useful to you. If you consult secondary sources on your translations, make sure you cite them, and make sure you do not use them as a substitute for your own ideas.
Go here for a poetry explication checklist that might be useful.
Go here for information on how to quote verse properly.
Below is a list of the editions assigned for this course:
Homer, The Iliad, trans. Fagles (Penguin) [ISBN: 0140445927]
Virgil, The Aeneid, trans. Mandelbaum (Bantam) [ISBN: 0553210416]
Bhagavad Gita, trans. Miller (Bantam) [ISBN: 0553213652]
Dante, Inferno, trans. Mandelbaum (Bantam) [ISBN: 0553213393]
Cervantes, Don Quixote, trans. Edith Grossman (HarperCollins, 2005). [ISBN: 0060934344]
Voltaire, Candide, trans. Theo Cuffe (Penguin, 2005) [ISBN: 0143039423]
Li Po, Poems, trans. Hinton (New Directions) [ISBN: 0811213234]
The following supplemental texts are available for download (instructor will provide password):
The Sermon on the Mount [PDF]
Excerpts from St. Augustine's Confessions [PDF]
Excerpts from Aquinas's Summa Theologiae [PDF]
Petrarch's "Ascent of Mount Ventoux" [PDF]
Excerpts from Petrarch's Canzoniere [PDF] Translated by Robert Durling (1974).
Bibliography of Translations (and Original Editions)
[OL] = Online Source
[ILT] = Interlinear Translation
[LU e-Book] = Longwood University e-Book (available on the LU network)
Note: There may be additional translations in the Longwood Library that are not listed here.
Homer's Iliad
The Iliad in ancient Greek.
Butler, Samuel. (1898). [LU e-Book]
Chapman, George. (1611-1615). [PA4025.A1 C5 1967b
v.1 and v. 2.]
Edward, Earl of Derby. (1864) [OL]
Fitzgerald, Robert. (1974). [PA4025.A2 F5 1989]
Johnston, Ian. (2000) [OL]
Lattimore, Richmond. (1951). [PA4025.A2 L35]
Lombardo, Stanley. (1997).
Pope, Alexander. (1715).
[OL]
Vergil's Aeneid
Original Latin, selections with copious footnotes. Ed. Charles Knapp. [OL]
Day Lewis, C. [PA6807.A5 D34 1986]
Dryden, John. (1697) [OL]
Dryden, John. [OL]
Fagles, Robert. (2006). [PA6807.A5 F25 2006]
Fitzgerald, Robert. [PA6807.A5 F53 1983]
Humphries, Rolfe. (1951). [PA6807.A5 H8]
Lombardo, Stanley. (2005). [PA6807.A5 L58 2005]
Lombardo, Stanley. [Google.books limited preview] [OL]
McCrorie, Edward. (1995). [PA6807.A5 M38 1995]
Williams, Theodore.
Bhagavad Gita
Arnold, Sir Edwin. [LU e-Book]
Mitchell, Stephen. [BL1138.62 .E5 2000b]
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. [OL]
Ramanand Prasad. [OL]
Dante, Inferno
Dayman, John. (1843)[OL]
Durling, Robert. [PQ4315 .D87 1996]
Esolen, Anthony. [PQ4315.2 .E76 2002]
Hollander, Robert.
[PQ4315.2 .H64 2002]
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. [LU e-Book]
Murray, Eleanor Vinton. (1922) [OL]
Musa, Mark. [PQ4315.2 .M8]
Norton, Charles Eliot. [LU e-Book]
Cervantes, Don Quixote
Don Quixote in Spanish.
Bilingual eBook.
Cohen, J. M. (1950). [PQ6329 .A2 1950]
Ormsby, John.[OL]
Ormsby, John. [Facsimile edition] [OL]
Shelton, Thomas.[OL]
Voltaire, Candide
Original French version.[OL]
The French text of Candide, at the University of Virginia's E-Text Center.
Digital scan of 1759 French edition. [pdf]
Adams, Robert. [PQ2082.C3 E5 1991]
Butt, John. [Google.books limited preview]
Butt, John. []
Smollett, Tolbias. [OL]
Unknown translator (literature.org). [If anyone can figure out the translator here, let Dr. Smith know] [OL]
Li Po (aka Li Bai)
Bynner, Witter.[OL]
Owen, Stephen. [Use the login/password you've used to access other texts in this course to access this]
Shigeyoshi Obata. (1922) [OL]
Various translations. [OL]
Petrarch, Canzoniere
Auslander, Joseph. (1922) [PQ4496.E23 A8]
Cook, James Wyatt. [PQ4496.E23 C66 1996]
Durling, Robert. (1974)[PQ4496.E23 D8]
Durling, Robert. Selections. [Use the login/password you've used to access other texts in this course to access this]
Kline, A.S.[OL]
Musa, Mark. (1996) [PQ4496.E23 M8 1996]
Musa, Mark. (1996) [Limited access on Google.books--but there are more than enough poems here to work with] [OL]