Zhang 1

Wanjing Zhang

Tumen

Writing 2

4 June 2021

Genre Translation Explication

Back in my music theory class, most of the composers I learned about are men. In my

school orchestra, most of the pieces we played were composed by men. When I search for

famous composers online, most of the results are also men. To some extent, there has been a lack

of representation of women composers in the world of classical music. An academic article by

Vicki D. Baker, “Inclusion of Women Composers in College Music History Textbooks”, gives

an informative explanation for this lack of representation. In order to make such a topic more

accessible and raise awareness to a more general audience, I translated this academic article to a

newspaper with changes in genre conventions, audience, and purpose.

In “Inclusion of Women Composers in College Music History Textbooks”, Baker points

out the lack of inclusion of women composers in education, especially for elementary and middle

school students. She mentions that the main reason for this issue can be traced back to

nineteenth-century Romanticism when it was socially unacceptable for women to become artists.

Baker also explains that the inclusion of women composers in the study of music history is

essential because it is “the key to changing negative attitudes about women in the field of

composition” (Baker 18). The inclusion of women composers will also serve as a powerful

message for future generations, encouraging them to pursue a career in composition. In her

article, Baker includes lots of statistics, references, and quotes that confirm the credibility of her

argument. Towards the end of her article, Baker shares her personal experience that she felt
 Zhang 2

inspired after knowing so many talented women composers and excited to share her knowledge

with her students. The use of language in this academic article is formal and Baker also includes

music-related jargon. Its intended audiences are mainly research scholars in the fields of

musicology, education, and gender issues. However, such a topic is important not only for

scholars to do further research. Instead, a broader audience should be acknowledged and be

aware of this issue since music, education, and gender issues are closely related to our lives. One

way of making an academic article more accessible for a more general audience is by translating

it into a newspaper article.

Translating an academic article into a newspaper article requires knowing the

conventions of both genres because “the rules change as the genre changes”, according to Kerry

Dirk in “Navigating Genres” (Dirk 258). One important strategy to get familiar with a genre is to

read like a writer. According to the article “How to Read Like a Writer”, Mike Bunn points out

the idea is that “looking at the writerly techniques in the text in order to decide if you might want

to adopt similar (or the same) techniques in your writing” (Bunn 72). In order to be familiar with

the genre of newspaper articles, I chose the news article “Kids aren't learning LGBTQ history.

The Equality Act might change that.” as my reference text. First, its headline is catchy. Since the

headline of a news article is always the first thing that readers will see, it must be creative and

grab the attention of its audience. Next, the lead paragraph is concise and clearly shows the main

topic and the basic facts of the event that the Equality Act is passed by the House of

Representatives and it could affect the teaching content in the classroom (Aspegren). The lead

paragraph is also crucial to the whole article because it determines if audiences want to continue

reading the rest of the news. The next few paragraphs provide more details about this event and

there is additional information in the format of subsections. There are also interviews with
 Zhang 3

students and LGBTQ educators. This article is easy to read and understand. Hence, a newspaper

article should also be written in everyday language.

Translating an academic article to a newspaper involves changes in genre conventions,

audience, and purpose. First, my newspaper article is titled “Women composers are not included

in the textbooks? Here is why!”. This title catches the attention of the readers through a question.

The “Here is why” part also indicates that the readers will find answers in this article. Next, in

the leading paragraph, I used an example from the original academic article and changed it to a

real-life story. I made up a name, Jennifer Smith for this anecdote, and its purpose is to introduce

the subject and bring up the main topic which is the lack of inclusion of women composers in

education. In the next few paragraphs, Smith explains the reason for this issue. At the end of my

news article, I reintroduced Smith with a call to action that encourages young people to pay more

attention to women composers. There are also two subsections “Why is it important to include

women composers in the textbooks” and “Why textbooks are a critical medium” for additional

information about the subject. Furthermore, I changed some quotes from the original academic

article into forms of interviews to increase the credibility of my news article. For example, I

transformed Baker’s personal experience into an interview with her to re-emphasise the

importance of providing education about women composers.

In addition, I specially designed the format in order to fit into the conventions for

newspaper articles. More specifically, I included my name and date on the top of my news

article. I added many pictures and advertisements to make it look more colorful. There are also

buttons for subscription, donating, and signing in at the end of my article. Lastly, when

translating, it is important to keep in mind to use everyday language so that it is easy to read and

understand for general audiences. I also included basic background information of anyone who is
 Zhang 4

mentioned in the article and provided definition when using music-related jargon such as

“Romanticism”.

This news article does not mention the statistics and the research procedures from the

academic article. The genre is not a research study anymore but a newspaper article with

intended audiences of people who follow current events and are interested in music, education,

or gender issues. The purpose is not further researching for scholars anymore but raising

awareness of music and gender education for a general audience. This can be musicians,

feminists, students who are learning about great music composers, educators who are teaching

about music history, or simply just people who are following current news. Therefore, translating

an academic article into a newspaper article makes an issue accessible for a more general

audience.

Translating into the newspaper article “Women composers are not included in textbooks?

Here is why!” changes the genre conventions, audience, and purpose of the original academic

article “Inclusion of Women Composers in College Music History Textbooks”. This translation

makes the topic of the inclusion of women composers more accessible and raises awareness of

this topic to a broader audience. Not only newspapers, an academic article can be translated to

many different genres with different target audiences. The topic of an academic article is

sometimes related to our lives and translating an academic article into a new genre that appeals

to new audiences is a good way to communicate with non-academic readers.

 Zhang 5

Work Cited

Aspegren, Elinor. “Kids Aren't Learning LGBTQ History. The Equality Act Might Change

That.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 8 Mar. 2021,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/03/06/lgbtq-history-equality-education-

act-teachers/6648601002/.

Baker, Vicki D. “Inclusion of Women Composers in College Music History Textbooks.” Journal

of Historical Research in Music Education, vol. 25, no. 1, 2003, pp. 5–19.,

doi:10.1177/153660060302500103.

Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by

Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, vol. 2, Parlor Press, 2010.

Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by Charles

Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, vol. 1, Parlor Press, 2011.