Die Verwandlungen der Verwandlung von Kafka
Instructors: PD Dr. habil. Moritz SchaefferShortname: 06.843.0612
Course No.: 06.843.0612
Course Type: Seminar
Recommended reading list
Thompson, B., Roberts, S.G., Lupyan, G., 2020. Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment. Nat Hum Behav 4, 1029–1038. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0924-8Contents
In this seminar, you will explore how Kafka’s "The Metamorphosis" (1912) has or has not transformed across translations spanning different eras and languages. You will acquire the theoretical and empirical tools needed to investigate these processes of transformation and learn how to quantify such changes using cross-lingual semantic models. Specifically, you will use models such as those from Google or Facebook—to calculate cross-lingual sentence-level similarities; this, in turn, allows for the analysis of how similarity shifts over time across various translations into the same or different target languages. No prior programming knowledge is required. While the question of how similar two sentences in different languages are has long been a central topic in translation studies, it is now possible to quantify this similarity across languages. We will examine the theoretical foundations of cross-lingual semantic models and explore their application within translation studies, applying them to existing translations to open up new avenues for interpretation. Passing the course requires active participation (weekly readings and a short assignment) as well as a final term paper.Additional information
Passing the course requires active participation (weekly readings and a short assignment) as well as a final term paper.Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 10/22/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 10/29/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 11/05/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 11/12/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 11/19/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 11/26/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 12/03/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 12/10/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 12/17/2026 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 01/07/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 01/14/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 01/21/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 01/28/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 02/04/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |
| 02/11/2027 (Thursday) | 09:40 - 11:10 | N.009 Sprachlabor 8512 - FAS Hörsaalgebäude |