Short Essay #3

So far this semester, we have discussed and practiced different interpretive methods of reading. These have included: Translation as interpretation, close reading, source criticism and reader reception theory. Each of the following essay prompts asks you to utilize one of these modes of reading to analyze the primary sources we have read in the second half of the course. Each also requires that you draw in outside readings and make informed choices about which sources to use; in doing so bear in mind the relevant class discussions about sources.

1) Translate stanzas 1-5, 1501 and 2470 of the Libro de Alexandre into English or modern Spanish. Your translation should contain a critical apparatus, including notes about the language, the narrative, and the historical context. While writing your apparatus, bear in mind our discussions about the kinds of tools that are helpful in this enterprise, including critical editions (in this case those edited by Cañas and by Casas Rigall, both available in Bobst), historical dictionaries, and other translations. Finally, reflect on the process of translation. Your grade will be based in equal measures on the translation itself, your critical apparatus, and your reflection.

2) Write a source-critical analysis of one of Judah Halevi’s poems that we did not specifically cover in class. You may either choose one of the poems from On The Sea that we did not discuss in recitation, or you may choose one of Halevi’s poems from the book The Dream of the Poem, which you will find in Bobst.

3) Visit the NYU Institute of Fine Arts library and examine the facsimile of the Columbus family copy of Nebrija’s Gramática de la lengua castellana. Then, using specific examples based on your observation, address the following questions: How does reading a text like the prologue to the Gramática in a modern edition (as you did for class) differ from reading it in a first edition (or a facsimile thereof) that was read by someone living at the time it was composed and printed. What do you learn about the text and its readers?

Bring one hard copy of your essay to class on 5/1. Essays will be collected at the beginning of class; if you are late, so is your essay. They will not be accepted by email.