Online | Translation | Seminar

2-Week Online Translation Workshop: Translating Violence & Trauma

Literary translation is one of the most profound ways to understand narratives of violence and trauma from different parts of the world. When translating narratives that reveal violence, destruction, vulnerability, and trauma, how do we navigate ourselves as translators to build voices for characters with visibly harmful potentialities? What are ways to translate to convey the discomfort and make sure to not excessively entice harmful narration?

This two-week translation workshop welcomes translators from beginner to experienced levels, and, during class, we’ll look over short texts in translation and several articles on violence and trauma. Participants will be encouraged to finish the assigned readings prior to class, and all participants will be encouraged to share their own translation of around 2-5 pages to discuss questions and topics they have encountered when translating their own pieces.

Translation is a significant process for us as translators and readers to access other cultures’ literary tradition, various narrative styles, and eventually reflect upon our own stories. Participants of the workshop will learn how to identify and evaluate different approaches to translate sensitive languages, emotions, and find the right balance to bring out the significance of the stories.

*If you’re enrolling in two or more Don’t Translate Alone classes, email us at [email protected] and we’ll send you a coupon for 15% off each DTA class!

Class meetings will be held over video chat, using Zoom accessed from your private class page. While you can use Zoom from your browser, we recommend downloading the desktop client so you have access to all platform features.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

- Familiarity with the etiquette to approach narratives about trauma and violence and unfamiliarity with different cultures.

- How to approach sensitive languages during translation and advice for doing further research.

- How to communicate with editors and publishers in order to set boundaries and not having to overly explain the culture we translate from.

- Written feedback from the instructor and further discussions with peers.

- How to take care of ourselves when translating potentially harmful contents and ways to stay true to the original stories while amplifying the significance of the work.

- 10% discount on all future Catapult classes

COURSE EXPECTATIONS:

In each class, students will be expected to finish 2-3 readings prior to class and discuss the topics addressed in the articles/ texts they read. They will be encouraged to share their own translation of 2-5 double-spaced pages and will receive feedback from the instructor and other students.

COURSE SKELETON:

Day 1: Getting started. In-class discussion on what brings you to this workshop, what you’re translating most recently, and what you’re looking to explore specifically in translating violence/trauma. We’ll then move onto discussion on the pre-class readings, exploring themes, politics, and strategies for translating sensitive languages and narratives containing trauma and violence.

Day 2: In-class workshop. Prior to class, students will be divided into groups of two (a total of 6 groups for 12 students), giving each other written feedback on their translation. Each student is expected to upload 2-5 double-spaced pages before the class starts. In class, we’ll have each group talk about their experiences translating the workshop pieces, the urgent topics that have appeared in the piece, and their strategies for translation. The instructor will provide written feedback after the end of the two-day sessions.

Jenna Tang

Jenna Tang is a literary translator based in New York. She translates from Chinese, French and Spanish. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her translations and essays are published in Restless Books, Latin American Literature Today, AAWW, McSweeney's, Catapult and elsewhere. Her interviews are at World Literature Today and Words Without Borders. She is a selected translator for the 2021 ALTA Emerging Translators Mentorship with a focus on Taiwanese prose.

Testimonials

“As a translator, Jenna is fundamentally a community builder. A bridge-builder on the page and within groups she crafts with sensitivity and nuance, translating not only between languages but complex identities and beliefs. Her work supports shared understanding through a profound respect for cultures and individuals.”

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Writing Group Member

"Jenna Tang is doing incredible and important work as a translator and writer. She is so generous and always opens the door for others. Her work challenges the status quo and creates a space for resonant stories and writers to find many audiences and communities across languages and borders. She helps us see what is possible in the literary world and how to find our way toward it. I can't think of anyone I'd rather learn from more!"

K-Ming Chang author

“Jenna Tang works tirelessly and generously to promote literature in translation and to build community within the translation sphere. As a translator from Taiwan now based in the US, she moves fluidly between the cultures she translates from and to, probing the bounds of the English language and seeking out voices who have hitherto not received sufficient attention.”

Jeremy Tiang author and translator

“Jenna is a thoughtful translator and creative spirit who works from multiple lineages and myriad inspirations, toggling between the minutest of details and big-picture issues in a text with ease. Warm and inquisitive, she's committed to community in all senses and brings passion and energy to every one of her endeavors.”

Mike Fu Literary Translator of SANMAO'S STORIES OF THE SAHARA