About the MPhil in Literary Translation

The MPhil in Literary Translation is a unique opportunity to develop a wide range of practical skills related to translation, while also building a strong understanding of the theory and history of translation thought and a keen critical eye. The programme is based in the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, Ireland’s foremost centre for the study and practice of literary and cultural translation. Our students are ideally placed to build professional networks and to see the translation industry from the inside.

The course’s name uses the term “literary”. However, this should not be taken to indicate only novels and poems. In fact, the course’s definition of “literature” is so broad as to include anything that involves human creativity, including video games, subtitles, speeches, comics, and songs.

Translation, and especially the kind of creative translation we develop as part of the MPhil in literary translation, has been a subject of huge interest in recent years, both within academia and in industry. At the same time, the demand for well-qualified translators continues to grow internationally, and this form of translation more than any other is coming to be valued as something that is not easily done by machines.

The MPhil in Literary Translation equips you with the skill to apply translation theory to your literary translation practice in creative and original ways. You will craft a unique portfolio of translations under the guidance of academic and professional mentors. You will take part in team projects, aimed at simulating the realities of the translation industry, and you will be trained in the latest specialist translation tools.
On this varied and demanding course, you will be provided with a wealth of opportunities to develop your understanding of translation, expand your practical translation skills, and prepare either to work in translation or to undertake advanced research.

Checkout our course video to get an idea of what it’s like to be one of our students.

How this degree will benefit me

There is a strong and growing demand for highly-trained translators with the creativity and linguistic prowess to create aesthetically appealing work. Such translators are already sought out not only in the field of literature, but also in the private and public sector, in international organisations, media, and education. We have close ties with many such organisations, and give our students regular opportunities to interact with them.

The MPhil in Literary Translation develops eight key competences that build the practical, professional, and theoretical skill base of students:

1. Transfer competence The ability to identify issues in translating texts, and to formulate strategies to achieve identified goals.	5. Literary-cultural competence The ability to apply knowledge about differences between source and target cultures, literary movements and genres while producing translations.
2. Language competence The ability to use many variations of both the source and target languages to a very high level of competency.	6. Professional competence The ability to gather knowledge and understanding of working in the field of literary translation.
3. Textual competence The ability to distinguish and reproduce literary genres and styles.	7. Evaluative competence The ability to assess and evaluate translation choices and translations’ impacts.
4. Heuristic competence The ability to gather the linguistic and thematic knowledge needed to translate.	8. Research competence The ability to conduct methodical and rigorous research in translation studies.

Working languages

English is the common language for all of our students and students must have a demonstrably very high level of English. We do our best to accommodate as broad a range of working languages as possible for our student translators. Our students regularly work with the following languages:

 

Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Chinese Croatian Czech French

German Greek (ancient and modern) Hungarian Irish Italian Japanese

Latin Polish Portuguese Russian Spanish Turkish

 

Places are limited. Therefore, you are encouraged to contact us as early as possible to see whether your working language(s) can be accommodated.
We are happy to accept queries from applicants working with languages not listed here, though we cannot guarantee availability.

Why study this degree at Trinity?

Located in the heart of multicultural Dublin, Trinity College provides a uniquely rich environment for studying and researching translation. Trinity has fostered many literary giants over the centuries such as Nobel Prize winner, Samuel Beckett, and has one of the best records for teaching languages in the world. Trinity was even the first university in the world to introduce the study of modern continental languages in 1776.
Our students are taught by translation theorists and language specialists with a highly diverse range of research interests. They also have direct contact with practising translators through our Literary Translator in Residence Scheme, and busy programme of events.

The MPhil in Literary Translation offers an unrivalled degree of freedom. Our students customise their own programmes, follow their own research interests in assignments and dissertations, translate what and how they want to translate in portfolios, and focus on honing the professional skills that are most valuable to them.
Trinity students are highly valued by the translation industry. We organise workshops with our industry partners throughout the year, and offer a long list of opportunities to network and collaborate from the beginning until well after the end of the degree.

You can download the course brochure here

Trinity College Dublin is a proud member of the PETRA-E network, of more than 21 institutions from across Europe, which work together to improve education and training in literary translation. The MPhil in Literary Translation makes direct use of the PETRA-E framework in its design, planning, and assessment.

We would like to thank Phrase for granting us free access to their platform through the Phrase Academic Edition. Phrase Cloud is a complete translation platform that includes translation memory, integrated machine and human translation, terminology management, and both online and desktop Computer Aided Translation tools. Our students are trained to use this powerful translation software and to evaluate its feasibility for literary projects.