Original article by Simona Mambrini found on Bologna Book Journal 2009
link to the downloadable pdf not available
Every time a book is translated, it takes on a new language, a new culture, new readers, and a new perspective. Translation is very much more than linguistic transfer of meaning: literary translation is a matter of vital and vitalising communication between cultures.
Translating literature for young readers presents a complex challenge for the translator, whose task is to convey the original sense and meaning of a story in another language, choosing the very best language possible for the audience. This rewriting process also involves a cultural transfer and a range of strategies to solve specific issues. In this creative process, the translator is an essential mediator, an instrument that makes it possible for different cultures to talk to one another, an active agent in intercultural communication.
Children’s literature in translation plays a major role into enriching a child’s world: the more widely children read, the more open-minded they are likely to grow up. We live in a globalized world where the need to understand cultures other than our own has never been more urgent.
Literature in translation can enrich a child’s world by providing glimpses into the lives and actions of young people in other parts of the world and fostering his understanding of cultural diversity. Translated books become windows, allowing young readers to gain insights into other cultures which can be similar or very different from their own; they bring them into contact with what is unfamiliar and challenging about in other cultures. It is therefore vital that literature is translated for children, in order that children and young
people may experience this contact with the foreign and the “other”.
Translating for children is a particular art, requiring an understanding of the language patterns and modes of address best suited to young readers. Especially when translating narrative for young readers, the translator is faced with the task of maintaining the cultural references of the original text, while at the same time paying attention to the issues of acceptability and readability.
Picture books provide an additional challenge as they involve translating the verbal and the visual; the puns and nursery rhymes, as well as fictitious proper names, require a creative reworking in the language of the translated text. It is up to the translator to pay attention to what is said verbally and visually. In this respect, translators of books for children need both verbal and visual literacy: they need to know how to read illustrations and their interaction with
the verbal text.
That is to say that translators of children’s books are more often than not challenged by what is in a tale and how to show its tail…
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S O U R C E S
• Bologna Children's Book Fair
We hope this little article has helped you to understand a bit more about our world. If you are interested in joining our little group, please send us a note entitled "join" to childrensillustrators. Talk a bit about yourself and your attraction to children's book illustration. You must be a children's book illustrator or a wannabe to join us. You must have a great amount of children's book illustrations in your deviantART gallery.
Children's Illustrators Club Team
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link to the downloadable pdf not available
Translating Children's Literature
Every time a book is translated, it takes on a new language, a new culture, new readers, and a new perspective. Translation is very much more than linguistic transfer of meaning: literary translation is a matter of vital and vitalising communication between cultures.
Translating literature for young readers presents a complex challenge for the translator, whose task is to convey the original sense and meaning of a story in another language, choosing the very best language possible for the audience. This rewriting process also involves a cultural transfer and a range of strategies to solve specific issues. In this creative process, the translator is an essential mediator, an instrument that makes it possible for different cultures to talk to one another, an active agent in intercultural communication.
Children’s literature in translation plays a major role into enriching a child’s world: the more widely children read, the more open-minded they are likely to grow up. We live in a globalized world where the need to understand cultures other than our own has never been more urgent.
Literature in translation can enrich a child’s world by providing glimpses into the lives and actions of young people in other parts of the world and fostering his understanding of cultural diversity. Translated books become windows, allowing young readers to gain insights into other cultures which can be similar or very different from their own; they bring them into contact with what is unfamiliar and challenging about in other cultures. It is therefore vital that literature is translated for children, in order that children and young
people may experience this contact with the foreign and the “other”.
Translating for children is a particular art, requiring an understanding of the language patterns and modes of address best suited to young readers. Especially when translating narrative for young readers, the translator is faced with the task of maintaining the cultural references of the original text, while at the same time paying attention to the issues of acceptability and readability.
Picture books provide an additional challenge as they involve translating the verbal and the visual; the puns and nursery rhymes, as well as fictitious proper names, require a creative reworking in the language of the translated text. It is up to the translator to pay attention to what is said verbally and visually. In this respect, translators of books for children need both verbal and visual literacy: they need to know how to read illustrations and their interaction with
the verbal text.
That is to say that translators of children’s books are more often than not challenged by what is in a tale and how to show its tail…
---
S O U R C E S
• Bologna Children's Book Fair
We hope this little article has helped you to understand a bit more about our world. If you are interested in joining our little group, please send us a note entitled "join" to childrensillustrators. Talk a bit about yourself and your attraction to children's book illustration. You must be a children's book illustrator or a wannabe to join us. You must have a great amount of children's book illustrations in your deviantART gallery.
Children's Illustrators Club Team
(Adelaida, germaine-en-tongs, Pocket-Zoo and cocinando-colores)
