Translating through the senses

5 April to 5 May 2022, University of Lodz

Workshop Programme

Workshop 1 (5 April 2022)

The first workshop is devoted to becoming familiar with Jerzy Jarniewicz’s poem “Makijaż” (“Make-up”). This poem has been chosen deliberately because it examines the relationship between words and images. Participants will translate excerpts of the poem into drawings and body language. A discussion will follow on how intersemiotic translation can be used to facilitate interlingual translation.

Workshop 2 (12 April 2022)                                                               

The second workshop will be devoted to penetrating different meanings and perspectives in the poem. We will talk about the technique of defamiliarisation in art, poetry and translation, and how it can be achieved by the use of decontextualisation, juxtaposition, deformation/transformation, change of format and change of perspective. Participants will do a linguistic (interlingual) translation of the poem, rendering it from Polish into English.

___________________________________________________________________________

Workshop 3 (26 April 2022)

The third workshop will be led by the artist Tomasz Wochna. Through a series of hands-on activities, we will discuss the issues of composition, colour (brightness and saturation), content and form. Tomasz will introduce the concept of pictograms and their different kinds (e.g. scientific signs, brand images/logos, street signs, images of superstition, emojis) and functions (pictograms can function as emblems (logos), symbols and signals). Participants will use coloured pencils, pens and markers to translate the poem into pictograms.

___________________________________________________________________________

Workshop 4 (5 May 2022)

Participants will present their pictorial translations, reflecting on their experience of intersemiotic translation (also in comparison to linguistic translation) and the potential application of intersemiotic translation for communication between different media, cultures, etc. The participants’ graphic and linguistic translations will be compiled into a mini-book by Tomasz Wochna. The poet Jerzy Jarniewicz will reflect on the visual translations of his poem and these reflections will be included in the mini-publication, along with some photos from the workshops.

Artwork

Tomasz Wochna will translate the participants’ pictorial translations into a short animation artwork that will be screened during the exhibitions in London and Ledbury.

The workshops are free and open to anyone. If you would like to join us, please email Joanna Kosmalska at: joanna.kosmalska@uni.lodz.pl