It is widely known that Vladimir Nabokov’s “literal” translation of Eugene Onegin sparked a heated controversy between the translator and Edmund Wilson. In this translation, Nabokov abolished rhyme and added over a thousand pages of commentary. Yet the iconoclastic translation seems to have been misunderstood. This paper outlines the influence of Nabokov’s controversial translation by comparing it with rhymed translations of the poem and by proposing a rereading of Nabokov’s essay “Problems of Translation,” reprinted in Venuti’s Translation Studies Reader. Even though his “literal” translation has no successors, the translation’s influence on the rhymed translations of Onegin has been so profound that those who regard its extreme “literalism” as a failure still had no choice but to consult Nabokov’s version. Paradoxically, such critiques have kept Nabokov’s translation and translation theory alive even now, 35 years after his death.

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“Translation thesis” refers to a form of a Master’s thesis in a translation program, which generally consists of a translation of an extensive length of text accompanied by the translator’s theoretical commentary. This article discusses the main purposes and methods of completing a translation thesis, presents as an example the practice of supervising translation theses at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), and suggests some guidelines for implementing the option of a translation thesis. The benefits of completing a translation thesis are laid out from the perspectives of developing translator competences as the goal of translator education, and are examined through a review of feedback from MIIS graduates on their experience writing translation theses. The translator competences examined include the abilities to manage a major translation project, to apply meta-language to analyze translation problems and justify their solutions, and to make use of information resources and translation tools.

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This commentary was written as a part of the translation thesis which was submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Translation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. This paper focuses on the choice of overall strategy and procedures adopted in translations of fantasy literature. It analyzes in particular translation procedures used for culture-specific items in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series by translators of various languages in order to examine options available for such items and their potential effects on target audiences. In addition, this paper highlights the characteristics of translation strategies employed by Japanese translators through comparison with translators of other languages including French and Chinese. Following this general discussion, the specific strategies and procedures are applied to the translation of the source text of the thesis.

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This is a summary of the commentary submitted with the partial translation of “The Origins of Simultaneous Interpretation: The Nuremberg Trial” by Francesca Gaiba. This serves in part to complete the requirements for a Master of Arts degree in Conference Interpretation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The purpose of this commentary is to analyze the target text by applying various translation theories and discuss the strategies and solutions that were utilized in dealing with the challenges faced in the translation of the source text.

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