Raise your voice – Translating contemporary international drama - Detailseite

In this course, we will focus on the special challenges when translating English language performative texts for the theatre into German. We will consider contemporary dramatic texts from various countries and cultures, examining, for example, the characteristics of performative language. In translation practice, we will find answers for a few essential questions: What about orality? For whom do we translate theatre texts? Who is talking here, and why? From here, we will make brief excursions into translation theory, theatrical processes and the translators’ role in them. We will also discuss contractual and legal matters relevant for theatre translations on the German market.

Students will be required to read the texts to be discussed and translated before the course, present short 15-30 min papers, e. g. on aspects of translation theory, and present single or group work. We will translate English-language texts into German, students need to have very good command of the German language.