Interview with Alicja Kozieja
Alicja is preparing for her final year of her Modern Languages and Music degree. She is passionate about singing, playing the piano, and learning new languages. She enjoys writing about the complexity of language and translation, as well as linguistic debates.
Alicja’s top tips:
Don’t be too hard on yourself- you are here to practice and to learn.
Ask some friends to form a study group and keep each other in check.
If you know another language, try and research in it- you may find other information that will be useful.
ISOBEL: In this interview, I'm joined by Alicja, who studies Modern languages and Music. We're going to be discussing her essays on ethics within the translation field. So, do you just want to start by talking about what your essay is about and what interested you in the topic?
ALICJA: Yeah, sure. So, the essay title is “The best Translators are the most ethically aware Translators.” So yeah, the essay is an analysis on the role that the ethics can play when it comes to translation. It's also a commentary on how important they are, despite often being like overlooked. And yeah, what interested me in the topic… I mean, of course, as a student of modern languages, I was already quite interested in all things translation. However, it is not often that one thinks about how ethics or moral compass really incorporates into it. I thought that was quite interesting to see how they would interact and merge with each other. I also took an introductory course into English common law at University of London, so that kind of also piqued my interest in ethics and yeah, I was just eager to explore how they would interact.
ISOBEL: I think it's actually a really interesting question and as someone who doesn't study it, I found the essay quite engaging. I thought the way you wrote it was really coherent and I feel like it leads you to a really well-rounded conclusion. I just wanted to know; how do you make sure that you keep the question at the core of the essay? And how do you make sure that you're not straying away from the question?
ALICJA: Firstly, I just want to say thank you so much for saying that! It really needs a lot to me. I'm really happy to hear that you liked it. The way I taught myself how to not really stray away too far from the core topic… I've been writing a lot in high school due to my teacher. So I did a higher level in Polish, which I guess would be equivalent to doing English here. Uh, so she made this write a lot of and she was really strict about grading. So, I think that kind of built my foundations. But I think the reason why, is I always prepare like a little bullet point list of what the essay will look like, because the hardest part for me is always the beginning and the introduction. It's always just the hardest to build something from scratch for me. So, I kind of take the core essay question or essay topic, and normally before every essay I look back at the material we explored in class. And I look at the additional reading to see if I have enough material to relate my essay question back to and then I try to kind of form a couple of arguments for each paragraph. Then I relate every single point to one of the readings to exemplify them better. And yeah! I just make a list of paragraphs right before I even start the essay, just to have each paragraph start with something.
ISOBEL: Yeah, I think planning is so important and you learn that throughout being at uni. In my second year, I've become more confident with making sure that I've got a clear plan before I go about writing it, so that you are keeping to the question. In terms of researching, is there anything specific that you do?
ALICJA: I do. I normally try to look back at the lectures first because that's where I think that the core reading and core material would be. And then obviously I look at the additional proposed reading! And normally it helps to me to have the physical book. I do actually go to the library and check them out whenever they're available because it's just, I don't know, it's just easier for me to focus with the actual physical book in my head rather than having a million of tabs open. So, that is mostly what I do. When I feel like it's not enough, I do go on to the library search, the Royal Holloway Library has like an online list of all the books on the topic and all the books relating to the modules, I believe. Yeah. Just the core, plus additional readings. What also helps, which I know this is not available for everybody, but I also try to check sources in different languages, because it's often that I can find something really interesting, and not really available in English. So yeah!
ISOBEL: Were there any books or articles that you found particularly useful for this essay?
ALICJA: Well for all essays, for all things translation “The Translation Studies Reader”, which was edited by Lawrence Venuti. It provides an exploration of many important and influential developments in translation history and theory and research, and it's just a great source of information anything translation related, so that is always very useful! Yeah, with this essay, also by Lawrence Venuti, “The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference.” That was also, as the title suggested, very helpful to my essays about ethics and translation, so these ones were obvious choices. I also picked Emily Wilson's translation of “Homer” and “Homer’s daughters: women’s responses to Homer in the twentieth century and beyond” since I thought it would be good to explore ethics with the issues of misogyny and it being overlooked in history and just being diminished in literary fiction. Yeah, I thought that would be a good example to see and to exemplify how the lack of ethics can present themselves in a not really obvious way, but in an affecting way.
ISOBEL: I found it really interesting that you brought this idea of sexism and discrimination into it, and how that affects so many translation works… And people probably don't even think about it, but actually it is really important to remember the historical/political context of a text. I thought that the Emily Wilson argument was like particularly interesting. Do you think that you had many challenges when writing the essay? And, when you face a challenge (when you're writing something like this), how do you get out of that and overcome them?
ALICJA: I would like to say that the essay was challenging but in a better way, rather than in a bad way. I think it's always easier to write things, to write texts that we find interesting. I feel like this one was particularly interesting and engaging for me, so that that part was a little bit easier. However, the challenge that I faced was that the essay came at the time where there were a lot of other assignments from other modules, so I had a bit less time than I would like to prepare for it and then to write it… And I used my extension for it so yeah… My attention span is not the best. And then I procrastinate a lot. I have to admit that! So, writing big, important assignments can get really challenging. So obviously it's best to start long before they’re due. Not really long, but yeah, to start a bit earlier before the due date. But since I had to use my extension, there were a lot of assignments, taking that many breaks wasn't really an option, so I had to manage my time and focus well, which was challenging! And what I do to overcome it… I think that it doesn't work for everybody, I know, but for me having music in the background helps a lot. And just have some snacks as well, and drinks available, because I think it's all about the different forms and different sources of mental stimulation to keep my thoughts at bay, and to keep myself occupied enough to stay focused on what I really need to do. Also there was one time, over the essay, where I hit the proverbial wall. So I got a little bit stuck with where I was going to go with it. I think it was also caused by the stress and the time pressure. So yeah, as I mentioned, English is not my first language. So again, I know it's not available for everybody, but if one does speak a second language, what I find helps is researching in a different language. And then, even writing it in bullet points of how I can continue or just trying to go forward with writing in a different language. I find that it really helps.
ISOBEL: Especially for a question like this that is so focused on translation, I think it's really cool that you can utilize your first language and research in it, and then go back. And I mean, I guess you already had an opinion on it in a way before coming into it. Was there anything that you gained from writing it?
ALICJA: So I didn't have a lot of time with this essay, so obviously what helped is that I liked writing it and I was interested in the topic, but it did help me trust myself with my own opinions and stances, and how I am with my writing in general. Because if I'm completely honest, when I mentioned my high school teacher earlier, I was a bit regretting it because well, she obviously she made us do a lot of work! The experience helped me write better, and I have to admit that. But she was very strict, so it just helped me build back a little bit of the confidence to write. And obviously the research helped me realize how important the ethics are in a quite unexpected field, what consequences they might have if they're not included… And I think it also showcased how many, like you mentioned about the unethical translators and translations, there are. And I think it taught me how to spot them, and how to avoid becoming one or creating one unintentionally. But I think it just made me a better translator as well.
ISOBEL: I think it's so important as well to look at every essay that you hand in, or every piece of work, and take something from every single one, because there is something to learn there. Looking back at your second year, what would be your number one piece of advice for students specifically in the modern languages school?
ALICJA: I think the advice I would have would be just don't be too hard on yourself! And don't leave your essays in the last the last moment. And I know overcoming procrastination can be really tough. What I found helped was just asking some of my friends to do work together. Separate work but in each other's company. Obviously, we try to keep each other in check, but it also makes just the time a bit more pleasant. I feel like you dread the writing of the essay a little bit less when you can just spend time with a friend. And I used to not like writing essays because I feel like if I started early and gave them that much time and effort, they would have had to end up perfect. And then sometimes I’d still get the same grade I would have gotten if I spent like a day on it or something. So it was just a lot of pressure put on me by myself, and then the endless self-criticization, the essay would take so much longer because I would keep criticizing it and changing everything. So, I think what's important to bear in mind is that there is more than one right way to write it. Like there's so many! Sometimes I get stuck trying to choose which word to use or which part to put first and it's a lot of pressure, but just don't be too hard on yourself and trust yourself! You're in your second year to practice and to learn!
ISOBEL: Yeah, that's it! Thank you so much.