Teaching the Practice of Literary Translation

Abstract

Considering that, in general, translation programs in the United States for the most part concentrate on translation theory, and when occasionally they teach the practice of translating, their focus is often on training professional translators for non-academic purposes, teaching the practice of literary translation and training literary translators, for all intents and purposes, seems to be neglected. This is particularly true concerning classical Persian literature, with a tradition of more than a millennium. Likewise, adequate attention has not been paid to rendering modern Persian literature, despite its indisputable quality and high volume. In this article, after a brief discussion of my own outlook and philosophy of literary translation and theoretical view of translating based on my experiences as a practicing literary translator who taught translation courses for over forty years, I will focus on teaching the practice of literary translation and provide a description of the methodologies I have used for training several generations of translators. I will then conclude with a discussion of the target audience of translations and the conflicting outlooks of practicing literary translators and translation critics.