At home with foreignness : theories, issues and strategies in translating for children.

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
French
Degree name
Master of Arts
Publisher
University of Canterbury. French
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2014
Authors
Pavlov, Smruti
Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the translation of children’s literature. It probes the issue of whether domesticating texts for the child reader is always in the best interest of the child. The thesis traces the origins of both domestication and foreignisation in the history of translation studies and illustrates how translation norms for children have developed to favour target text oriented translations that move the source text close to the child reader in order to facilitate comprehension. The thesis questions this practice through close examination of issues and strategies in examples taken from children’s books in translation. Three detailed case studies explore how these issues have been handled in the translations of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and two stories by Astrid Lindgren. The skopos theory in translation studies is also discussed and offered as a valuable approach when translating for children. It is suggested that the commission or the purpose for translating for children may also be to provide the child reader with a closer cultural encounter. Finally an attempt is made to produce a foreignising or non-domesticating translation that moves the target text closer to the source culture and potentially sends the child reader abroad.

Description
Citation
Keywords
translation, children, domestication
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Smruti Pavlov