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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Common Courses (School of Lit, Lang and Cult)

Postgraduate Course: America Translated: Baudelaire, Mallarme, Whistler and Poe (CLLC11009)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course aims to investigate the images of France and America that were constructed as Baudelaire and Mallarme read, translated, and wrote about Poe (and in Mallarme's case) Whistler, and as Poe and Whistler wrote about France and French artists. Since discussion of issues around translation are at the core of this course, a good reading knowledge of French is required. Students will be expected, as part of the course, to engage in bibliographical research on the course's themes, and students' interests will determine some of the course's theoretical orientations.
Course description We will begin by investigating the view of America that emerges from the writings of Baudelaire and Mallarmé on Poe (and in Mallarmés case, on Whistler). Then we will look at their translations of Poe's works into French, to see how their translation strategies interact with their view of America. Reciprocally, we will look at the way France is constructed in Poe's tales, and in Whistlers Gentle Art of Making Enemies. We will be looking throughout for the ways in which foreign national identities constructed through linguistic difference are vital to the strategies by which art defines itself, in contrast to non-art.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Since discussion of issues around translation are at the core of this course, a good reading knowledge of French is required.
Additional Costs Relevant book purchases; photocopying costs for a small dossier of texts to be studied.
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate an advanced knowledge of how views of America were constructed in literary and artistic circles in late 19th-century France, and how those views operated in those circles¿ concepts of art;
  2. evaluate more generally the construction of views of national otherness in literary texts, and the uses to which those views are put;
  3. analyse the role of translation in the construction and transmission of such views;
  4. assess and synthesise primary and secondary sources and engage critically with these sources, showing awareness of nuance and accommodating ambiguities;
  5. demonstrate autonomy and initiative in their activities, carry out independent research under the guidance of the tutor, and to show awareness of their own and others¿ roles and responsibilities as part of a team.
Reading List
We will begin by investigating the view of America that emerges from the writings of Baudelaire and Mallarmé on Poe (and in Mallarmé's case, on Whistler). Then we will look at their translations of Poe's works into French, to see how their translation strategies interact with their view of America. Reciprocally, we will look at the way France is constructed in Poe's tales, and in Whistler's Gentle Art of Making Enemies. We will be looking throughout for the ways in which foreign national identities constructed through linguistic difference are vital to the strategies by which art defines itself, in contrast to non-art.
Reading list:
Our initial primary texts will be the articles and introductions that Baudelaire wrote on Edgar Allan Poe; the short texts that Mallarmé wrote on Poe; and Mallarmé's short writings on Whistler. These will be made available on line or in photocopied form, by the course tutor, before the course begins.

We will also be studying Baudelaire's translations of Poe's tales, widely available in paperback, and Poe's originals; and Mallarmé's translations of Poe's verse.

Whistler's Gentle Art of Marking Enemies, including his 'Ten O'Clock' which Mallarmé translated, will be an important intertext. It is available on line (as is Whistler's correspondence).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsBaudelaire,Mallarmé,Poe,Whistler,cultural translation
Contacts
Course organiserProf Peter Dayan
Tel: (0131 6)50 8424
Email: Peter.Dayan@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Kara McCormack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3030
Email: Kara.McCormack@ed.ac.uk
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