MA Translation

This module introduces students to key academic debates within the field of Translation Studies and addresses a range of topical issues relating to the professional practice of translation through the illuminating framework of twentieth and twenty-first-century translation theory. 

Touching on a range of currents of contemporary concern within the field, and placing these within their respective historical contexts, this module introduces students to broad theoretical questions that influence and impact upon the practice of the translator, including issues of loyalty, duty and faithfulness to the text-for-translation and to the audience of translation, translator ethics and the political positionality of the translator as an intercultural communicator and mediator.  

The dissertation module offers students a choice between developing an extended critical argument in the form of an essay or undertaking a practical interlingual translation project and associated research-based critical essay in which the challenges and opportunities of translation are discussed and rooted in relevant debates in the academic field. 

The module combines interactive seminars led by tutors with research, training and development workshops facilitated by external academic researchers in Translation Studies and translation industry representatives including freelance and in-house translators as well as employers of translators such as translation agencies. These sessions are also complemented by one-to-one support meetings with dissertation supervisors.

This module will prepare you for working as a freelance or in-house translator in the global translation and language service industry.

Through workshops and lectures, you will develop the following skills:

• an understanding of the nature of freelance work and self-employment
• how to meet the needs of translation agency and in-house translation employers
• how to identify, evaluate and implement business and marketing strategies for different translators and text types
• how to establish client relationships
• bidding and competing for work and navigating the commissioning process
• project and time management
• how to use computer-aided translation, machine translation and online tools for translators
• how to edit, revise and proof your work. 

This core module for the pathway in ‘Modern Literary Theory’ surveys key currents in literary and cultural theory from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Beginning with the examination of shifting ideas and theories of the ‘literary’ in the module of the discipline’s development, it goes on to explore ten key thinkers and tendencies, starting with Nietzsche. These will include Freud, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Benjamin and Adorno, Structuralism, Blanchot, Derrida, Gender and Postcolonial Theory. Although the question of the relationship of theory to literary and cultural criticism is a central one, the module will enable you to focus on theoretical concepts in their own right. You will also be asked to consider the theoretical implications of the particular formal and stylistic choices made by the thinkers covered.

In a globalised, interconnected world, organisations operating at a local, regional, national and international level depend on skilled multilingual intercultural negotiators to facilitate communication, reach new audiences and promote good community relations.

Students on the MA in Translation have the opportunity to apply for work placements as part of their translator training. From potential work with translation agencies and language service companies, to perhaps providing language, transcreation and intercultural communication services in private, public and third sector organisations where intercultural and interlingual transfer play a key role in global sales, communications or creative industry, these work based and self-directed learning opportunities are aimed at giving students the chance to gain experience, develop knowledge of business practice and build professional competences as a translator or language professional.

This module will prepare you for working as a freelance or in-house translator in the global translation and language service industry.

Through workshops and lectures, you will develop the following skills:

• an understanding of the nature of freelance work and self-employment
• how to meet the needs of translation agency and in-house translation employers
• how to identify, evaluate and implement business and marketing strategies for different translators and text types
• how to establish client relationships
• bidding and competing for work and navigating the commissioning process
• project and time management
• how to use computer-aided translation, machine translation and online tools for translators
• how to edit, revise and proof your work. 

In a world increasingly dominated by globalisation and migration, the relationship between language and borders has become more complicated and, in many ways, more consequential than ever.

It is a key feature of contemporary literature to respond to these processes, as writers embed questions of language in the very practice of their writing. Their linguistic and formal innovations register new multilingual realities, bring different cultural and linguistic forms into dialogue, challenge alignments of language and nation, and address the possibilities and limits of translation in a globalised world.

This module will allow students to explore the implications of these forces and processes for our understanding of literature from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

Literary texts from a range of geographic, cultural and political contexts will be read alongside critical and theoretical debates at the intersection of several disciplinary perspectives: postcolonial studies, transnational studies, comparative literature, world literature and translation studies.

This module aims to introduce students to contemporary approaches and frameworks of analysis of written texts. The module explores the analytic techniques and principles of written discourse analysis and gives students space to apply these techniques to a wide selection of texts (texts from the contemporary media, advertisements, textbooks, political and administrative texts, texts in translation, etc.). The module leads students to a discussion of how linguistic analysis can illuminate wider social issues, for example issues of power and ideology, issues of representation and identity. Students acquire knowledge of different levels of linguistic analysis, and learn to examine written texts at the micro-level, and to link the micro to the macro. The use of a variety of texts is intended to lead students to debates about language use and social issues in different areas of human activity: media representation, translation, education, etc.

The overall aim of this module is to explore the development of the English language, its variation and change, in relation to linguistic and social issues of language contact and multilingualism. Students will have the opportunity to study the spread of English and the rise to its current status as a global language, discuss the establishment of (English) language standards and (standard) varieties world-wide, the emergence of English as a Lingua Franca and other language contact phenomena. The focus will be on the challenges and opportunities open to multilingual societies and to consider the impact of English in multilingual settings. An understanding of Global Englishes and aspects of multilingualism gives students the necessary conceptual and theoretical tools to understand English practices in a multilingual world and to conduct their own research within an area they find of interest.

This module combines a sociolinguistic with a discourse analytic approach in order to explore the socio-cultural contextualisation of language and meaning from two angles: language use and language representation. This dual focus will be evident throughout the module ; topics such as language and gender, language and ethnicity or language and the media will be examined in relation to the socio-cultural (and situational) contexts in which speakers use language as well as in relation to different representations of specific socio-cultural groups in the media and other (written) texts.

For example, we will investigate both how women speak and how women are spoken about, and we will discuss if and how the former relates to the latter and vice-versa. Other topics that will be addressed in this module include the political correctness debate, sexist language, multilingualism, cross-cultural approaches to politeness, attitudes to non-standard English (including patois and/or London Jamaican) and the linguistic construction of identity.

The module will introduce you to a wide range of empirical research and methodologies. Drawing on analytical tools and frameworks from semiotics, pragmatics, (critical) discourse analysis, conversation analysis, feminist linguistics, ethnography and variationist sociolinguistics, this module will investigate how language is used and meanings are created, interpreted and contested in a range of different texts, discourses and socio-cultural environments.

The module introduces students to a range of empirical studies and debates in a cross-disciplinary field that has become known as intercultural or cross-cultural communication. One of the questions researchers ask in this field is if speaking styles vary from culture to culture. For example, do some groups of speakers accept and encourage more overlap and simultaneous talk than others, or do understandings of directness and politeness vary culturally. Students will study inter/cross-cultural communication in everyday interaction but also in institutional settings, examining talk in business and educational settings such as the multilingual/multi-ethnic classroom. The module also explores the relevance of cultural stereotypes and cultural representations, for example, in media and tourism contexts.

Throughout the module students will need to consider the term ‘culture’ critically, comparing popular definitions of ‘culture’ as homogenous and static with postmodern models that highlight the heterogeneity and fluidity of ‘culture’. Students will become familiar with a range of methodological approaches to the study of language, culture and interaction. These tend to include the ethnography of speaking, interactional sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, intercultural pragmatics and politeness theory. The module will not only ask students to study language/discourse and culture in a range of different English-speaking countries and settings, but it will also invite students to consider a variety of ‘other’ linguistic and cultural contexts.

This module will focus on how language structure relates to meaning and communication. We will look at various aspects of language structure – sounds, words, sentences and short texts, and relate them to function and meaning. For example, we will discuss how speakers deploy different grammatical resources to give varied representations of events and their participants. We will also explore how different structural choices help speakers express their knowledge, and certainty or uncertainty of events, or how they impose obligations or grant permission to their conversational partners, what means they use to express attitudes and take a stance, and how they figure out what others mean even when they mean something different from what they say.

The module aims to make clear the wider aims of linguistic research, as well as enable students to apply theoretical notions to specific data sets and develop their own skills of linguistic analysis, especially as it relates to human interaction and communication. Language structure will be seen as contextualised and contingent, subject to variation at any one time and change across periods of time.

This module aims to introduce students to contemporary approaches and frameworks of analysis of written texts. The module explores the analytic techniques and principles of written discourse analysis and gives students space to apply these techniques to a wide selection of texts (texts from the contemporary media, advertisements, textbooks, political and administrative texts, texts in translation, etc.). The module leads students to a discussion of how linguistic analysis can illuminate wider social issues, for example issues of power and ideology, issues of representation and identity. Students acquire knowledge of different levels of linguistic analysis, and learn to examine written texts at the micro-level, and to link the micro to the macro. The use of a variety of texts is intended to lead students to debates about language use and social issues in different areas of human activity: media representation, translation, education, etc.

What is English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)? What are ELF implications for language teaching? How can teachers address the plurality of English in their teaching?

English as a lingua franca, and research into the plurality of English, is a vibrant field of investigation and this module aims to bridge the gap between the socio-cultural research on ELF and language teaching/teacher education.

You will start with exploring the dynamic, co-constructed and intercultural nature of ELF, focusing on pragmatic and multilingual aspects, before concentrating on pedagogic implications. Throughout the module, the emphasis is on the plurality of English, the fluidity and intercultural nature of ELF communication. These raise questions for pedagogical applications for the language classroom, which are addressed in relation to various aspects, such as multilingual resources, materials, assessment, a reconceptualization of the notion of communicative competence and ultimately a change of mindset for an ELF-informed pedagogy. The module intends to relate research on ELF (and theoretical questions ELF raises) to the practical concerns of teachers and teacher educators, and relate existing ELF findings to pedagogical practices within a critical pedagogy perspective.

This module is open to students interested in ELF and its applications for the classroom and to language teachers who would like to address ELF and the plurality of English in their pedagogy.

This course emphasises the pleasures of literature and aims to make students knowledgeable and committed readers of literature for children and young people. In the course we aim to address a range of issues in relation to culture and identity through literature for children.

We take a wide definition which includes picture books and graphic novels, media and dramatic texts. We consider historical perspectives and explore children's literature for today, as a distinct form, which is a product of both literary traditions and current ideological contexts.

Sessions will include consideration of the nature of literature for children, poetry and oral texts, picture books, media texts, graphic novels and reader response theory, and an exploration of literature about the refugee experience.

This module critically analyses the growth and character of cultural tourism and the growing relationship between the creative industries and cultural tourism.  It critically interrogates notions of the creative class, the creative city and the experience economy which have been used to underpin strategies in cultural tourism development. Ideas about the growing sophistication of cultural tourists and their changing tastes suggest that travellers wish to move beyond consumption to ‘prosumption’. With increasing competition between tourism destinations, the development of timely, attractive and innovative tourism products has never been more necessary – whether using the historic environment in creative ways or exploiting contemporary cultural forms. 

This module looks at the governance of cultural tourism at different spatial levels (from UNESCO to local government and local partnerships), best practice in destination management and the development of new tourism products. The geographic spread of cultural tourism and the greater diversity of products, necessitates the examination of issues related to contested meanings, authenticity, ethics, and sustainability. 

This module comprises weekly lectures delivered by the module tutor and guest speakers followed by seminar sessions to develop, explore and apply the ideas developed in the lectures. Group and individual tasks will give student the opportunity to work with the key concepts developed in the module. The seminars will also be used to support students in the development of their own research. Fieldwork in week 5 will introduce the students to key cultural and creative tourism ideas in central London.

Museums and Galleries of art make an important contribution to income generation in the UK. To achieve this successful outcome it is necessary for them to understand the role that culture plays in our society. The manner in which they display works of art, provide information and education, are committed to making their collections more accessible and generally strive to be welcoming, entertaining, friendly and rich in diverse opportunities shows how well they have understood the part they play in establishing culture at the heart of all that we do. This ten week course will focus on the growing importance of cultural organisations, how taste is shaped not only by museums and galleries but also by designers of fashion and lifestyle products and how commercial organisations are keen to engage in large-scale cultural projects as a way of attracting a new, younger audience and establishing themselves as key players in a modern society.

Individual sessions will focus on the many definitions of culture from Raymond Williams to Brian Eno; the connections between culture and class using the work of Bourdieu and Tony Bennett, the issue of taste as Greenberg saw it and more recently as the type of lifestyle choices we make. The course will also use case studies of large scale public cultural projects like the Unilever series in Tate Modern’s turbine Hall and the Fourth Plinth project in Trafalgar Square.

This module critically analyses the growth and character of cultural tourism and the growing relationship between the creative industries and cultural tourism.  It critically interrogates notions of the creative class, the creative city and the experience economy which have been used to underpin strategies in cultural tourism development. Ideas about the growing sophistication of cultural tourists and their changing tastes suggest that travellers wish to move beyond consumption to ‘prosumption’. With increasing competition between tourism destinations, the development of timely, attractive and innovative tourism products has never been more necessary – whether using the historic environment in creative ways or exploiting contemporary cultural forms. 

This module looks at the governance of cultural tourism at different spatial levels (from UNESCO to local government and local partnerships), best practice in destination management and the development of new tourism products. The geographic spread of cultural tourism and the greater diversity of products, necessitates the examination of issues related to contested meanings, authenticity, ethics, and sustainability. 

This module comprises weekly lectures delivered by the module tutor and guest speakers followed by seminar sessions to develop, explore and apply the ideas developed in the lectures. Group and individual tasks will give student the opportunity to work with the key concepts developed in the module. The seminars will also be used to support students in the development of their own research. Fieldwork in week 5 will introduce the students to key cultural and creative tourism ideas in central London.

Although art museums use the words interpretation, education and communication as a way of differentiating between individual departments and the type of responsibility staff members have, there are important fundamental differences inherent within each term that are rarely examined or explained. This module will seek to explore these differences, and look closely at each of the three main concepts: interpretation, education and communication.

Individual sessions will examine the way in which art museums define their relationship to content, meaning and context, how they communicate their message, their interest in creating a suitable brand and image, the role of library and archive, development, fundraising and conservation.
There will be an emphasis on examining education and learning, the importance of access, diversity and the range of activities museums develop to attract new visitors and address the diversity and needs of an increasingly large visiting public.

The module tutor will introduce theories which relate to the writing of interpretative text, and consider how the experience of looking at art might be different if text were not available. There will also be a discussion regarding the role of the aesthetic in art education and the range of expectations visitors have from a museum visit.

Recent research in Asia has questioned the widely held assumption that tourism arose in the UK during the mid-19th century as a result of Thomas Cook’s introduction of the ‘package’, a combination of the cost of travel and another service.

It has been shown that travel and leisure existed in early Han Dynasty China as scholars and priests explored mountainous areas giving rise to one of the civilizations most enduring art forms, the landscape painting. Travel and leisure also seem to have gone hand in hand with that other widespread phenomenon, the pilgrimage, with the attendant development of hostelries, storytelling and souvenir production.

Industrial forms of tourism were introduced to Asia by European colonial powers in the late 19th and early 20th century with the development of hilltop stations to provide relief for officials and merchants working in tropical areas. Grand hotels were introduced with the Sarkies brothers opening up famous establishments in Myanmar (Burma), Singapore and Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). The inter war cruise ship industry made Asia accessible to wealthy Europeans and Americans with perceptible impacts on Asian hospitality traditions and visual and performing arts.

Western artists used the opportunities provided by tourism to open studios in Asia, notably Bali, often working alongside indigenous artists to create hybrid and highly creative art forms. The post-war era opened up parts of Asia to Western mass tourism, notably the so-called ‘rest and recreation’ of the US military in Thailand.

Tourism was also used as a nation building strategy by Asian leaders such as Suharto in Indonesia to encourage his countrymen to travel and to get to know their country and to project a tourist friendly external image of stability.

As the Asian economies developed, countries like Japan became major sources of outbound tourism with accompanying impacts on Western retail practices, especially with regard to fashion and luxury. By 2014 China had become the largest outbound and inbound tourism market with the introduction of China-friendly hotel ranking systems in Europe, such as the 5-dragons scheme, began to be experimented with in Europe.

Indian outbound tourism also became significant with some novel characteristics, such as an interest in the hybrid Indian-British culinary tradition of the ‘curry house’. Tourism is also one of the drives that has spread Asian culinary traditions around the world.

In our increasingly globalised world, the traditional cultural representations and relations of countries are being challenged to incorporate a multidimensionality of identity and a plurality of actors.

This module will introduce you to the major theories and ideas within international cultural relations and will provide insight into its practice by a wide range of actors (governments, international organisations, corporations, non-governmental organisations and individuals). The role of the arts, their practitioners and mediators is highlighted in relation to their importance in the establishment of relations between the peoples of different countries. 

Topics include learning about the history and theory of international cultural relations, discussing the notions of cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy, analysing the relation between the arts and diplomacy, investigating the concepts of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, mutuality, cultural and linguistic human rights, soft power and hegemony, and connecting these with contemporary developments in areas such as communication technology, transport and economic flows.

This module places emphasis on the discussion of current themes and issues at policy and practice level in this transdisciplinary area. It fosters a reflexive and entrepreneurial approach to international cultural relations, by encouraging students to actively engage in the area by developing their own research and projects, relating them to wider debates. The module thus allows for the development of critical, creative, practical and reflexive skills complementing other elements of the MA Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy programme.

The module covers a range of trans-disciplinary contemporary issues that concern those researching and practicing in the areas of cultural relations and diplomacy. It will consider key questions faced by countries, regions, cities, organisations and individuals in creating and delivering policy and projects. The topics are broad and changeable responding to the current issues concerning policy makers, practitioners and the public engaged in the field – an indicative list of topics to be covered in the sessions is provided below.

While providing space for student led education through individual and collaborative presentations, the module works around topical and geographical sessions, each representing a contemporary issue and/or area of current interest in cultural relations and cultural diplomacy. These include for example: culture and international development policies and practices; the role of the cultural and creative industries in cultural relations and diplomacy; migration and (transnational) cultural citizenship; language, communication and identity in international cultural relations; international cultural policies and cultural co-operation; sessions with a geographical focus e.g China’s cultural diplomacy, EU strategy for culture in external relations; project planning, monitoring and evaluation for cultural relations and diplomacy.