Developing Literary Translators’ Competence. A Multi-Leveled Approach

Abstract

Just as one’s foreign language skills may be assessed on the basis of the Common European Framework of Reference, so may literary translators’ competences be evaluated following the criteria listed in the PETRA-E Framework of Reference for the Education and Training of Literary Translators. The article reports on the results obtained on the basis of a small-scale investigation aimed at diagnosing the competences of 1st year Translation Studies MA students at the West University of Timișoara, where the authors teach. The investigation covered one month of the fall semester, during which the students were asked to translate a short story (O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi¸ 1906) and perform a number of other tasks set in accordance with the PETRA-E descriptors for early career translators’ competences. The paper rounds off with the conclusions of the investigation, which may prove useful in outlining directions in literary translators’ training.