INSIGHTS INTO TEACHING POETRY TRANSLATION: A PLEASURABLE TASK

Abstract

In the Translation Departments of Higher Education Institutions in Turkey as in elsewhere, poetry translation is the least studied and the most discussed course among the students who usually harbor pessimistic opinion about the possibility of going through a successful and pleasurable course. In this study, an integrated approach to the teaching of poetry translation is proposed by means of studying Philip Larkin’s poem “Mr Bleaney” as the text for translation into Turkish, which is the mother tongue of the students concerned. The proposed integrated approach is an insight into the teaching of poetical translation bringing together a preliminary study of the formal, contextual and artistic elements of poetry in general and the poem as the text to be translated in particular, with that of a sound and comprehensive study of theoretical notions of poetical translation. It is hoped that this approach may prove to equip the students with the required confidence, skills, knowledge, and competencies to turn the practice of poetry translation into a pleasurable task.

Keywords

• poetry translation
• teaching poetry translation
• poetical translation