Oxford University has launched a new Master's degree course, MSt in Creative Translation.
Undergraduates have long studied academic translation within Modern Language degrees, but to date, there has been no provision for graduate students.
A new creative translation master's has been launched to fill this gap, which will be led by Professor Karen Leeder in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages.
The university says that the course reflects a growing appreciation for translation as both a field of research and a creative discipline that requires not only linguistic skill, but also imagination, interpretation, and cultural sensitivity.
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"It’s increasingly recognised as a literary art form," said Professor Leeder, herself a prize-winning translator.
"We’re seeing a real coming of age for the field."
The course will be based in the university’s new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
"There is a considerable creative reservoir and appetite for this course at Oxford," added Prof Leeder.
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"This is an exciting opportunity for students who will be joining a hub of creative activity."
Distinct from academic translation, creative translation explores the history, theory and methodologies of translation and interprets not just meaning but voice, considering tone, rhythm, and emotion.
As well as developing their own practice as a translator, students on the Creative Translation course will be introduced to a range of materials, from the earliest translations of ancient texts to the dilemmas of AI, examine how translations differ, and explore areas such as translation for performance, adaptation, early modern translation, translating the untranslatable, multilingualism, as well as focussing on specific languages, genres, and periods.
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The course will include a programme of regular industry sessions with visiting creatives and experts.
It will also encourage students to critically engage with technologies while also recognising their limits and learning to identify what makes for ‘good’ translation.
Human translators, Prof Leeder explains, will always bring something that machines cannot replicate.
"All art forms are under threat from AI, but AI is used in translation, and we must find ways to work productively with it," she said.
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"AI can’t deal with metaphor, idiom, or the stresses of word order and how this can change meaning.
"This is where the value of human translation lies. There needs to be a re-evaluation of the role of the human translator.
"It’s so important to champion their role in the future of publishing when authorship itself is under threat.
"We hope this course will not only prepare graduates to make a real impact in our creative industries, supporting a new generation of translators as creative thinkers, collaborators, and innovators, but will serve as a reminder that the ability to imagine, interpret, and connect across languages and cultures remains a distinctly human endeavour."
