Department of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Air University
COURSE SYLLABUS
World Literatures/Literature in Translation
Course Code LT 730
Credit Hours – 03
Semester – Spring 2020

Course Description:
World Literature that is rendered in English, from the pre-Colonial era to the present, introduces
scholar(s) to major literary topics and themes emerging from primarily a variety of Latin American
nations and cultures, including indigenous and Afro-Latin voices and the literature from occidentals.
Genres studied include the novel, short story, poetry, testimonial narrative, plays and historical
nonfiction. Readings, films, and discussion help provide the social and historical context necessary
for understanding and appreciating literature from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America,
Europe and Asia. Special emphasis is given to the relationship between literature and social change,
focusing particularly on the literary theories that enable a better interpretation of art. As the scholars
explore this literature, they will learn about history, politics, human rights, social activism, and gender
roles all over the globe through the lens of fictional and non-fictional characters.

Course Objectives:
The instructor encourages introspection in the analysis of literary texts through class discussions,
occasional lectures, and written assignments and oral presentations. Scholars are asked to imagine the
context in which the author wrote and the author’s thinking at that time. In this manner, they are able
to understand the literature more clearly, as well as the relationship between language and the socio-
political reality represented in the works studied. Emphasis is placed on helping them to recognize
different points of view and encouraging them to actively participate in the process of change, both in
themselves and in the world.

At the completion of the course, the scholars are expected to

 Acknowledge the role of translation in literature

 become familiar with important authors and common themes in contemporary translated
literature

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  recognize literary terms, concepts, critical strategies and stylistic characters in the texts studied

 articulate a basic understanding of history, politics, human rights, social activism, and gender
roles, as seen through the lens of fictional and non-fictional characters

 discuss the social and political impact of writers in the struggle for social change

 demonstrate critical and independent thinking in the interpretation of texts

 write analytically about literary works, using appropriate research and documentation

 demonstrate an understanding of ways the literature studied reflects its intellectual, social,
historical, and multicultural contexts

Course Outcomes:

 Scholars can evaluate the power of literature to address personal values and goals and to
challenge human endeavors.

 Scholars can write academic research articles based on World Literature in Translation

 Understand the role translation plays in making literature from different cultures accessible,
bridging the gap and transcending borders.

Topics Covered:

Modul Topics Wee

e k
1. World Literature in Translation: An Introduction 1
1.1. Course Introduction
1.2. Types of Translation
1.3 Selected Essays on Varieties of Cultural Studies from Introduction to
Translation Studies

1.4. Literal v. Free translation

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 2. Translation and Critical Theory 2
2.1. Critical Theory to examine all aspects of translation
2.2. History, evolution, practice, and effects on language, identity, culture, and
society as seen through translation.
2.3. Functions of and standards for a successful translation.

3. Poetry 3
3.1.Introduction to Federico Garcia Lorca
3.2.Critical engagement with selected poems
3.3. What constitutes a ‘good translation’?

4. Poetry cont.+ Assignment 4

4.1. Mosque of Cordova and Satan’s Council (Dr. Allama Iqbal)

5. 5
5.2 The Defiance of the Rose, Translated by Naima Rashid
5.3 Poetic translations as authorial works

6. Fiction +Quiz 6
6.1 The Metamorphosis, The Trial (Franz Kafka)

6.3 Mutations in translation

7. Critical Reading of the text 7

7.1 The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

7.2 Criticism of Absurdism

8. MID-TERM EXAMINATION 8

9. Critical Reading of the text 9

9.1 West-East Divan by Goethe

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 10. Critical Reading of the text 10

10.1 Cities of Salt, Abul Rahman Munif

11. Critical Reading of the text +Assignment 11

11 Selected Poems from World Literature Anthology

12. Critical Reading of the text 12

12 Continued

13. Reading + Quiz 13

13.1 Selected chapters from Translation, History and Culture to develop the
idea of Translation as a Genre. (Andrea Lefevere and Susan Bassnet)

14. Project Presentations 14

15. Revision 15

16. FINAL EXAMINATION 16- 17

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Further Readings/ Reference Material

Ahmad, Aijaz. In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures. London: Verso, 1992.

Amos,Flora Ross (1973) Early Theories of Translation New York: Octagon Books
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism. London: Verso, 1991.
Brah, Avtar. Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London: Routledge, 1996.
Baker, Mona (1992) In Other Words –A Coursebook on Translation London: Routledge.
Chambers, Iain. Migrancy, Culture, Identity. London: Routledge, 1994.
Cilano, Cara. National Identities in Pakistan: The 1971 War in Contemporary Pakistani
Fiction. London: Routledge, 2010.
Shamsie, Muneeza. Hybrid Tapestries The Development of Pakistani Literature in English.
Oxford University Press, 2017.
Soja, Edward W. Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers Ltd, 2000.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak.” Marxism and the Interpretation of
Culture. eds. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg Houndsmills: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1988.
Wilson, Janet, Cristina Sandru and Sarah Lawson Welsh, eds., Rerouting the Postcolonial:
New Directions for the New Millennium. London: Routledge, 2010.

Assignment 1:
Translate a previously untranslated work of a writer from Pakistan? After the translation answer the
following questions:
 Is the translation literal or free?

 Did the translation add something to the original?

 What linguistic qualities were the hardest to translate?

 Depending on the genre you chose to translate, do you feel that another genre would have been easier
or more difficult?

 Comment on any loss of meaning that might have taken place and compare it to the end product.

Assignment 2:
The study of world literature might be the study of the way in which cultures recognize themselves
through their projections of ‘otherness’ (Saha, 2009). Discuss.

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Instructional Methods/Tools
• Seminars
• Discussions
• Power point slides
• Readers

Evaluation Methods

Course Assessment and Evaluation

 + Assignments +Term Paper +
250 %
Presentation
 30 %
 ination 05 %

Assessment Task Due Weighting

Quiz 1+2 Week 5, 12 05 %
Assignment 1+2 Week 6,10 05%
Week 8 30 %
Presentations Week 15 05 %
Term Paper Week 14 10 %
Final Examination Week 16 45 %

Final Grades:
Absolute marking:
S.No. Marks in %age Grades GPA
1 80 – 100 A 4.00
2 75 – 79.99 A- 3.67
3 70 – 74.99 B+ 3.33
4 65 – 69.99 B 3.00
5 60 – 64.99 B- 2.67
6 55 – 59.99 C+ 2.33
7 50 – 54.99 C 2.00
8 Below 50 F 0.00

Prepared by:

_______________
Dr. Maria Farooq Maan
Assistant Professor

Approved by:

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________________
Prof.Dr. Munawar Iqbal Ahmad
Chair Social Sciences/Humanities

Date:22 March 2021

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