Fall 2026

4-WEEK SEMINAR

Lost In Translation: Cymbeline

Dr. Marie Roche. PhD

This four-week seminar explores Cymbeline through the lens of translation, treating translation not as a technical exercise, but as a way of thinking about language, identity, and misrecognition. Few Shakespeare plays are more concerned with misnaming, disguise, false signs, and delayed recognition—making Cymbeline a rich testing ground for translation as both practice and philosophy.

Working with selected passages rather than the entire play, we will examine how meaning shifts across languages, contexts, and bodies. Translation will be approached lightly and collaboratively: participants do not need to know another language, though those who do are welcome to draw on it. Short excerpts in French (and occasionally other languages) will be introduced to illuminate how words carry—and fail to carry—truth.

Rather than aiming at mastery, the seminar asks what happens when words fail, when names deceive, and when meaning must be reconstructed across distance. Translation becomes a way to see Shakespeare thinking through the instability of language itself.

No prior knowledge of translation required, but a command of the French language: college level.

Play: Cymbeline

📅 Dates: (4 weeks)

• November: 4, 11, 18

(Recess: Thanksgiving week)

• December 2nd
  

🕔 Schedule: Wednesdays, 2:00 PM–3:30 PM

📍 Format: online via Zoom

💵 $50-100 Sliding Scale Standalone  or  Free if enrolled in the fall 12-week seminar 

🏢Location: Zoom

Important Details:

• Please download the SLACK app to access reading materials and bringyour laptop.I am happy help set up SLACK during the first week of class.
• Extra readings will be posted on SLACK. Although not required, these materials will enhance our understanding of the context in which these plays were written.
• Windows download  Mac download  Linux download

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 Guest Speaker: TBA 

Co-taught with TBA

📅 Dates: TBA

🕔 Schedule: TBA

📍 Format: Zoom

💵 Price: included in the semester registration

🏢Location: Zoom