Our program has been one of the strongest in the nation in the field of Literary Translation, a particularly strong component of Comparative Literature at Indiana University. The department offers a Certificate in Literary Translation, which requires several courses and workshops in the practice of literary translation, as well as advanced graduate work in another language department.

Students may also complete a translation project as partial fulfillment of the M.A. degree. You must be enrolled in the M.A. or Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature or another language and literature department at IUB in order to earn the Graduate Certificate in Literary Translation.

Historically, our faculty members have had a particularly distinguished record as translators of poetry and fiction, receiving numerous national awards and holding high office in national organizations. A special strength of our faculty is the breadth of languages covered. We have produced highly regarded translations from the Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Persian Romanian, and Spanish, among other languages.

Students intending to complete the Certificate in Literary Translation should inform the chair of the Translation Studies Committee and the graduate studies secretary, who will maintain a record of the student’s progress. Each student will plan a coherent program of study in consultation with the Translation Studies Committee. Approval for coursework intended to fulfill certificate requirements must be obtained in advance from the Committee.

Expert knowledge of English and one other language.

The student is required to present a substantial translation project, approved by an advisor who in turn has been approved by the Translation Studies Committee. The project will consist of the translation of a literary or scholarly work or works into English, accompanied by an essay explicating theoretical and/or practical issues salient in the translation process.

The scope of the project will be negotiated among the student, the advisor, and the Translation Studies Committee, with the translation and essay together typically around 40—60 pages in length. A student revising a translation originally prepared to satisfy the workshop requirements may receive up to three credits for the revisions and introductory essay. If the Translation Project is completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.A. degree, the guidelines for the M.A. project/thesis pertain.

A three- to four- member Translation Studies Committee appointed by the Chair of Comparative Literature oversees the coordination of the ongoing coursework, requirements, standards, and evaluations associated with the Certificate in Literary Translation. The committee evaluates the Translation Project, consulting when necessary with the student’s project advisor and with other faculty members both inside and outside the Comparative Literature faculty. For further information please contact Professor Bill Johnston.

The Certificate in Literary Translation comprises 21-24 credits. These must include: C580 (History and Theory of Translation); C581 (Workshop in Literary Translation) plus one other translation workshop; and three further relevant courses in either Comparative Literature or one of the foreign language departments, consisting either of graduate-level literature courses using original-language texts (documentation of this is required) or advanced courses (300 level or above) in the language itself.