The Post Graduate Diploma in Literary Translation will train translators to bring new works from Indian languages to English readers worldwide. This two-semester programme is delivered online with two additional offline sessions. The programme involves hands-on training in literary translation and courses on the production, circulation and reception of translation in India, as well as digital tools and design, production and marketing avenues for literary translations. Students will produce a publishable translation of a literary work as part of the Translation Studio. 

The programme is designed under the leadership of Professor Tejaswini Niranjana, an eminent translator, winner of multiple translation awards like the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, State Sahitya Akademi Award, the DSC Prize for South Asian fiction, and the National Translation Award for Prose 2020 given by the American Literary Translators’ Association. The programme is supported by the JCB Literature Foundation which has instituted ten full scholarships for the programme. 

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Intake: 30
Diploma in Literary Translation: 30 Credits over two semesters (online with a week-long contact session per semester)
Certificate in Literary Translation: 15 Credits in one semester (online with a week-long contact session)
Eligibility: Graduate in any discipline, with good knowledge of English and one or two Indian languages.
 

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Programme Objectives

• To train literary translators
• To provide a comprehensive understanding of the social and philosophical registers of translation
• To introduce students to aspects of production, circulation, and reception of translations in the Indian context
• To enhance linguistic and literary sensibilities in relation to different genres and styles of writing
• To introduce students to the design, production and marketing aspects of translation.
   

Programme Outcomes

On completion of this Diploma, students will be able to

• Translate literary texts from an Indian language to English
• Compare and contrast effective and non-effective translations
• Acquire different kinds of linguistic skills relevant to translation
• Produce publishable literary translations in English
• Understand the field of literary translation as embedded in a larger social milieu

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Indicative List of Courses (12 Credits)

History and Theory of Translation 
The course aims to expose students to (a) the emergence of certain modern disciplines like cultural anthropology, literary studies, and historiography as dependent on the question of translation, linguistic and conceptual; (b) the emergence of cultural and political phenomena like nationalism, religion and literary modernism as underpinned by translation. Comprehensive exposure to the social and philosophical registers of translation will be provided.

Circulation, Reception and Readership of Translations in India
The course aims to expose students to (a) methods of cultural and literary history in understanding translation; (b) translation as a process and its intricate relationships with varied historical and socio-political contexts.

Material and Sensory Aspects of Translation
The course will discuss the practice of literary translation, focusing specifically on its material and sensory dimensions. Taking examples from across genres, the course will deal with various aspects of the process of translation, guided by the central question of what gets translated beyond meaning?

Conceptual Registers of Translation 
The course traverses the basic philosophical terrain of translation of concepts, including short excerpts from the philosophical literature, as also excerpts from literary and non-literary translations. The course tries to show how what is at stake in translating is not only finding the right words or equivalences, but finding the right angle to show a different domain of experience in sharp relief.

Workshops (6 credits)

Workshops will focus on translation of poetry, drama, short story, and on digital tools for translation.

Studios (6 credits)

Studio 1 will involve preparing the first draft of an actual translation into English of fiction, poetry, drama or non-fiction; Studio 2 will involve reviewing and revising the translation with a mentor, and finalising the translation for publication.

Project (5 credits)

Students will take up a theme, or problem in the field of translations and do a research project with a report as a final outcome. The project will involve fieldwork with students choosing one or two well-known libraries with good collections of their selected language and spending time there identifying a corpus of material for their project. They would also interview writers and scholars for the same purpose.

Review of Translations (1 Credit)

Students would compare and contrast three different translations of the same work and write a detailed review paper pointing to their merits and demerits.

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People desiring to enter the field of literary translation would obtain a comprehensive overview of the key historical and theoretical issues as well as hands-on training in translation into English from Indian languages. People already in this field would be able to refresh/extend their knowledge and strengthen their skill base.

Translated fiction from Indian languages has won major literary awards like the JCB Prize and the DSC Prize in competition with original works written in English. Indian translators have been winning international awards such as the American Literary Translators’ Association Prize and serving as jury members for such prizes. 

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Fee

Fee for the programme is INR 50,000. 

Scholarships

10 full scholarships are available (inclusive of course fee, travel, board and lodging for contact sessions)

Interested candidates who do not qualify for the scholarship but may be eligible for a discount on the course fee can write to us at [email protected] 

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