Anyone with an English Language and Literature Degree

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Originally Posted by JBI

You're going to have to analyze pretty deeply to translate though.

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Oh, of course I have to think about the text thoroughly, but I don't have to try and see more than there is to it. I can't really explain this properly in English... The main thing why I prefer studying translation to studying literature is that translation is very ... practical and concrete, not abstract. Each text has a function and I get to analyze that function instead of just analyzing the whole text as a ... something :D Sorry, my English is failing me right now (though I'm not sure whether I could do any better in Finnish at this late hour...) Perhaps I'll get back to this subject later, when I'm a bit more awake :lol:

electrical engineering \m/

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Originally Posted by Annamariah

Oh, of course I have to think about the text thoroughly, but I don't have to try and see more than there is to it.

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In a text there is only what the reader sees, what the author intended is largely immaterial.

At school I used to hate when the teacher made us read poems and then analyse them. I'm not saying that it's completely useless doing so and I can even admit enjoying it to some extent, but there IS the aspect of over-analysing too, when the teacher always wants to hear more and more far-fetched ideas about the texts, and no matter how ridiculous things the students say, it's always "a great interpretation".

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Originally Posted by Neely

In a text there is only what the reader sees, what the author intended is largely immaterial.

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As a translator-to-be I have to disagree with this one. When you translate the text, knowing what the writer wanted to say with it (or what purpose the person you're translating it for is going to use it for) is essential.

On anohter level, though, I know what you mean. One reason I don't like going into too deep analyses of books/poems/other texts in the class is that it's always very personal. Everyone sees the text a bit differently than the other, and I see no point in saying "this is what this and this means", because it's always your subjective view on the matter.

Any text that is translated is like light bouncing from two mirrors. There are two authors: the original author and the translator, there is an extra level of ambiguity for the reader. I would always prefer the translation to be as close to the intended original as possible and therefore I suppose the translator will have to try and know what the author intended as far as possible, but this knowledge is still the interpretation of the translator. The translator of a text is first and foremost a reader of the text like anyone else.

I can only begin to image the minefield that must face the translator of even the most basic text as words don’t exist in different languages or they have different social connotations etc, it is really an unforgiving task I suppose. As it seems you view things almost solely from the translator’s viewpoint, and not the readers, it seems that these are traits of a good translator who simply tries to transfer the original intention of the author however much an uphill battle this appears to me, good luck.

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Originally Posted by LoveyDovey

Hi everyone,
I'm a new member here :oops:
I'm interested in English Literature,
I wanted to ask you this question to see if you are obliged to read literature or you love it!
Because I really love English Literature but I don't study it,,,and I wanna be better at understanding it...how can I? :rolleyes:
And how did you become a good English Literature reader?specially if your native language is not English?

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History will help you a bit. It organizes things. As long as you don't get enslaved by it.

I'm not an English Literature student, nor a native speaker ... But I think about doing somethings by love of them rather than by obligation.

Once you love E. L., you won't have problems at reading it, so, 70% of the way is done. (Or will be being done, gradually.)

Read always. Organize what you read. Understand the time when and reason(s) why the things were written.

There seems to be no secret about it ...


But, again,

who am I to say anything,
I think with myself ...


librarius
:crash:

I graduated from the university last year, after I studied English language and literature
congratulation to me :)

and now, I teach English at the school

I'm not an english lit student or studying it in colledge, I'm a medical student but I find litrature as an out let and a beatiful art. Thinking how writers can be creative, and being able to capture various human mind or emotional status is been always impressive to me. Despite there is nothing quite artistic in my studies, but I've always had my share of admiration towards art.

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Originally Posted by Neely

I can only begin to image the minefield that must face the translator of even the most basic text as words don’t exist in different languages or they have different social connotations etc, it is really an unforgiving task I suppose. As it seems you view things almost solely from the translator’s viewpoint, and not the readers, it seems that these are traits of a good translator who simply tries to transfer the original intention of the author however much an uphill battle this appears to me, good luck.

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Studying translation does affect the way you look at texts in general. Even when I read only for pleasure I constantly find myself thinking about different words, phrases and structures I would use if I was translating the text. Also when I read translations, I always kind of try to see the original text behind it and why the translator made the decisions he or she made. It's the same whenever I watch television - I can't help reading the subtitles critically.

Translating texts can be "an uphill battle" as you put it, but it's exactly the sort of challenge I enjoy :)

Hello everyone.
Just wondering if anyone holds a degree in English Language and Literature?

Z

hello :) i am a literature student ! what is everyone studying at the mo'?

I always had excellent teachers and studying literature was never a chore or burden. My last day in school, the teacher of English told me to study Literature and make it my aim in life. She wrote it down on a peace of paper and told me to show it to my parents. My parents were always supportive although there was no money in a humanities or an arts degree. I completed my MA with distinction in 1992, taught literature with a friend (he is doing his PhD, of all the places, in Sarajevo, now). We were a rootless pair, we taught for nothing, taught everywhere and studied everywhere. We gathered round us an odd circle of young students and 'corrupted' the youth to our hearts' content. Till my parents pulled the plug, stopped my money and I had to look for a job. I became a school teacher, teaching literature and Art History. It was a lovely job. I loved the inspired children, I made them in my own image! Once they found me reading War and Peace and collected money to buy a copy for their classroom book collection and some actually started reading it! We talked about Napoleon, Borodino, about Michaelangelo, the Pope and his ceiling (that's when I read Agony and Ecstasy). Then I moved on to teach college. Good, but not as rewarding as school teaching. Still it was good. A studentship at Luton University coincided with my marriage (I had known my wife since we were in our mid-teens). I dropped out of Luton and that was effectively the end of my academic career. Then kids started coming along and I loved spending time with kids. Still I gave literature another go and joined university again in 2001, a thirty-something father of two. Everybody said it was crazy but I loved it. I studied Modernism and Postmodernism at the University of London (Royal Holloway) and really loved it. Loved it so much that I just whizzed through the course without any problem. I was working full-time and looked after two kids as my wife worked days (I worked nights) still the course and lectures were so interesting that I never faced any difficulty at all. It felt much easier than the first MA although I was absolutely young and free when I did that course. Now my kids read a lot. We discuss Chaucer and the medieval English, Shakespeare, Walther Raleigh, Homer, Wordsworth and Francis Bacon. My eldest will be 11 years old in January. He has a 'reading age' of 16+ according to most recent assessment and a 'spellings age' of 14. I continue creating in my own image!

Oh Frankenstein! What hath thou wrought.

hello
i am a student of English literature and interested to learn more and more.


safdar