Mainstreaming translation studies, developing globally-minded individuals : sensitizing high school english literature students to the fact of translation

Raising awareness of the fact of translation in North American English literature classrooms will both extend the reach of Translation Studies, currently a marginal, university-bound discipline, and broaden the minds of students studying in a monolingual setting. The dangers of allowing translations to pass undetected include perpetuation of cultural narcissism and domesticated perceptions of foreign cultures. Advanced Placement English Literature is an example of a course where Translation Studies could be introduced effectively. The responsibility for sensitizing students is shared by teachers and translators, though a review of the literature suggests that teachers have been more active in the discussion about teaching translated literature than translation scholars have. Lise Tremblay's 2007 novel La Soeur de Judith serves as a case study for a translation rooted in the reader response theory of Louise Rosenblatt and the foreignizing translation theory of Lawrence Venuti. The process of translation has been documented; examples of situations in the text highlighting patterns in the translation reveal challenges in the process of creating a text that is simultaneously foreign and aesthetic