Translating Quebec
8 Mondays, 8 to 10 p.m.
March 14 to May 2, 2022
Open to all.
Limited to 12 participants.
This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in exporting Quebec French to an English audience. Using the translator’s own experiences in the field as a springboard, the workshop will address the challenges—and fun!—of translating both a language and a culture. Participants will be encouraged to draw on their own well of cultural knowledge, and discussions are expected to be lively. We’ll tackle translation theory with a comparative reading of published translations; we’ll talk about the role of the church in contemporary Quebec French; we’ll take a look at media content and dip into the art of subtitling. Each week, participants will be given short selections to translate and workshop together. The focus of the workshop will be on translating what people speak, so don’t be afraid to make yourself heard!
Participants will be asked to reflect upon their own relationship to English and Quebec French as they develop the linguistic flexibility to navigate the challenges of translating from one to the other. Knowledge of both languages is mandatory, but participants are not required to have any formal translation experience.
Arielle Aaronson has published nine translations including titles of fiction, nonfiction, young adult fiction, and children’s literature. Her translation of Marie-Renée Lavoie’s Autopsy of a Boring Wife was longlisted for the 2021 Canada Reads book of the year. She has subtitled feature films shown across Quebec as well as content currently available on Netflix. She lives in Montreal with her husband and three children.
Facebook: Arielle Aaronson