Mattison, Julia
T 2 :20 PM
Park Hall 0061
Medieval Theories of Translation and Multilingualism:
Medieval Britain had a vibrant multilingual literary culture, producing and circulating works not only in English, but also French, Latin, Dutch, Welsh, Cornish, Irish, Scots and more. This course will investigate how medieval English authors and readers developed ideas about language, multilingualism, and translation in the face of such linguistic diversity. Beginning with the Classical and Patristic background to the field of translation studies, our course will then turn to medieval approaches to, discourses on, and anxieties about translation, particularly in the period from 1360 to 1500. We will focus on the relationship of Latin to the vernacular, the role of translation in creating a transnational literary culture, the relationship of translation to audience, and the shared cultural ideas about translation as a way to establish a literary identity. Our readings will draw from St. Augustine, Isidore of Seville, Dante Alighieri, John Trevisa, John Gower, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Lydgate, Christine de Pizan, William Caxton, and many anonymous translators. We will also consider how modern theories of translation can differ radically from the ideas advanced by these earlier authors. All texts not written in English will be read in a modern English translation.