translation studies. retrospective and prospective views

Translation Studies: Retrospective and Prospective Views ISSN 2065 – 3514
(2008) Year I, Issues 1 Galati University Press
Proceedings of the 3rd Conference
Translation Studies: Retrospective and Prospective Views,
9 - 11 October 2008 – “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi, ROMANIA
“Performances” in the English Class
Elena BONTA - University of Bacău
The paper is an attempt of analyzing the English class as social practice,
performed in a semiotic setting and making use of semiotic resources (words,
gestures, visual patterns) at the level of which one can easily notice ritual elements
and behaviours.
Annotation as Transtextual Translation
Ruxanda BONTILĂ - “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi
Great writers’ writings attract translations, literary criticism, rewritings, and
careful annotations. If the translator is more or less in a position of power due to the
importance and responsibility s/he has in face of the degree of mutual
incomprehension or non-communication only s/he can prevent, what about the role
of the annotator? Is s/he a travesty, that is, a translator who poses as critic too, or
vice versa? Is s/he a pedagogue or glossator more than a critic who cares in excess
for the mental sanity of the readers? Is s/he a researcher who minutely collects and
collates data so as to evince the writer’s centrifugal and centripetal sense of being?
Or is s/he all of the above or, on the contrary, none of the above?
In my contribution I intend to discern the profile of the annotator, taking as
starting point the prolificacy of Vladimir Nabokov’s oeuvre which has encouraged,
among many art talking heads, a number of annotators to embark upon the
difficult, very often annoying task of annotating his works. I envisage here the
following by now famous names: Alfred Appel Jr., who consensually (i.e. having
the writer’s approval in terms of meaning) annotated Lolita (1970); and Brian Boyd
who completed his long journey work of annotating Ada only last year (2007).
The Role of the Protocol in Teaching Translation Skills
Yolanda CATELLI – Polytechnic University of Bucharest
The paper is focused on the role of the so-called protocol in the teaching and
learning of translation skills. The author maintains that by using a working
protocol as a strategy meant to develop the IT students’ awareness of the kind of
problems technical translation may place in front of them, learners can be given
support in acquiring technical translation skills. Technical translators have to
transpose the scientific information in the original text by using the most
appropriate terms and also to identify and use the correct mode of expression.
The pattern of a translation seminar as well as the rationale for each step
make the subject of this paper, together with mentions and suggestions regarding
the role of the protocol in teaching translation skills..
Black Identity in Richard Wright’s Black Boy
Sorina CHIPER – “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iaşi
This paper focuses on the representation of Black identity in Wright’s
autobiography. It places Black Boy within the context of African American literature
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