Translation and Style

Effective translation begins with an understanding of style, tone, and register. Each text type has conventions of style that make it recognizable as belonging to a certain genre and written for a specific audience. This is true of almost any kind of text, including legal, commercial, medical, technical, scientific, cultural, and literary works. It is important for translators to identify the style of the original text and to recreate it in their translations. In this course students learn how to identify and use elements of style to create powerful translations: these elements include word choice, tone, register, diction, syntax, figurative language, and the specialized language of different text types. Translating style is an essential skill not only for translation and transcreation professionals, but also for those working in creative writing, publishing, editing, and cultural consultancy.