Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
Submitted by: Gabriele Thomson-Wohlgemuth Supervisor: Dr Gunilla Anderman
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in translation at the University of Surrey
September 1998
Gabriele Thomson-Wohlgemuth
Abstract
ii Abstract
The subject of this dissertation is childrens literature and the translation of books for children. Various aspects of both these subjects are discussed in order to present a comprehensive overview of this field. A definition and a review of the subject of childrens literature are given. The problems of adult dominance are examined, particularly in the sections on Asymmetry, Selection, Ambivalence and Manipulation. Cultural differences are highlighted and their implications for the translation of childrens literature pointed out, and particular emphasis is placed on the common translation strategy of cultural and moral adaptations of the source text. The roles of author, translator and publisher are explored. Particular emphasis is placed on the financial side of the book industry, involving the issues of book fairs and co-productions. The world-wide significance and dominance of the English language is shown, elucidating the problem of major and lesser used languages. The connection with Polysystem Theory is also described. The question of power is found to be a central issue in childrens literature and, therefore, is given special consideration. An attempt is made to identify the major sources of power and discuss their effects. Finally, some case studies are included to complete the picture and to serve as examples of what has been discussed in the previous four chapters.
Table of Contents
iii Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii PREFACE ix
INTRODUCTION 1
1 CHILDRENS LITERATURE
1.1 Status 3 1.2 Definition 5 1.3 Recipients 7 1.4 Language, Reading Situation and Readability 10 1.5 Successful Books 14 1.6 Asymmetry and Selection 15 1.7 History and Development of Childrens Literature 17 1.8 Ambivalence 22 1.9 Manipulation and Censorship 25
2 TRANSLATION OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE
2.1 Aims 29
2.2 Cultures and Regional Effects 30 2.2.1 Cultures 30 2.2.2 Regional Effects on Childrens Literature 32
2.3 Translation of Childrens Books 36 2.3.1 Translation for Children vs Adults 36 2.3.2 Theoretical Aspects of Translation 38
2.4 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 42 2.4.1 The Translator 42 2.4.2 The Author 49 2.4.3 The Publisher 50 2.4.4 The Critic 51
AdL literature written for adults ChL childrens literature SC source text culture SL source language ST source text TC target text culture TL target language TT target text
Acknowledgements
vii Acknowledgements
I wish to thank my supervisor, Dr Gunilla Anderman, for her support and guidance during the summer, especially for her readiness to give up her time in order to read drafts and make suggestions for corrections.
Special thanks to my husband Ian, not only for supporting and encouraging me at every stage but also for assisting patiently with the fiddly computer work, like the layout, footnotes and index.
I am particularly grateful to Steve Wheeler who - despite his very busy agenda gave up some of his weekends to correct and improve the style and who assisted considerably with the editing of this dissertation.
I am also very grateful to Dr Margaret Rogers for revising my translations of the German quotes into English.
I am indebted to the following people for proof reading my dissertation and for making valuable suggestions for improvement: Sarah Badger, Linda Barnes, Annis Flew, Carla J ackson, Steve Wheeler and my husband.
I would also like to thank the staff at Internationales Institut fr J ugendliteratur und Leseforschung in Vienna who were very efficient and helpful and provided me with a number of useful articles and books.
Lastly, I wish to thank Dr Otto Cichocki who obtained and sent some additional research material from Vienna. Preface
viii Preface
Drawing by Gerri Zotter
Being a teacher and having worked with children of every age for a number of years, I was excited to be given the opportunity, within the context of this dissertation, to do some research into the field of childrens literature and its translation. Determined to find as much information as possible, I visited several libraries in my search for books and journals. However, I was disappointed not to find the wealth of literature I had expected. There are few books which deal comprehensively with all the aspects of this field and, of those which do, most date back to the 1960s and 1970s. Many libraries proved to be poorly equipped, without even a stock of the basic background literature. Most publications deal with only one, very specific sub-area, and do not relate it to the whole of childrens literature; information tends to be scattered over various locations. Frequently, the literature available deals with the problem of translating for children only by way of analysing and criticising the actual renderings of texts. A theoretical grounding has not, as yet, been developed, although everyone seems to agree on the importance of establishing one.
I felt it necessary to bring together various aspects of this subject, providing an overall picture within one piece of work, and updating it to the current situation. With my contribution, I am hoping to enrich the field of childrens literature not only with a comprehensive piece of work but also with a reference work that could be used for the purpose of consultation. Therefore, I have included an alphabetically ordered index at the end of this dissertation to facilitate finding subject-specific terms or expressions within the text. I also provide several cross-references within the main body itself.
Preface
ix As much of the research was done in Vienna, a large number of examples given in this paper are German. In order to make this dissertation more reader-friendly, I have provided an English translation of each German quotation and these are given as footnotes. Due to the length of the translation of Swimmy in Chapter 5, the translation is supplied in an Appendix. A list of commonly used abbreviations is found at the beginning of the paper.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this subject and pulling together different kinds of facts and information about childrens literature and its translation. I hope that this dissertation will contribute to a clarification and a basic understanding of the field and will aid other students, translators and anyone else interested in this subject.
Introduction
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
1 Introduction
This dissertation deals with the issue of childrens literature and its translation. Books accompany a person from childhood through to adulthood. Whether at school or at home, books constitute a significant part of childrens lives. Also, books play an important role in influencing and manipulating children. And behind the scenes, there is a large industry, working for profit.
The translation of childrens books is not a straightforward matter. Beyond the forces of manipulation and profit lie several problems connected with the actual translation process. Because of the limited experience of children, translators encounter problems adapting their texts to the level of childrens knowledge. Differences in culture between source text and target text, which may even lead to censorship, have to be considered. This shows that the subject of childrens literature and its translation is a very complex one and that many different aspects have to be taken into account.
The main objectives of this dissertation are to present a comprehensive picture of the state of affairs in the field of childrens literature, to analyse the situation and, also, to show the current conditions in Europe. In order to achieve these aims, a major part of the existing background literature in this field will be used for reference, giving the reader an opportunity to gain a valuable insight into the subject. This coincides with another objective, namely creating a sound basis of knowledge for anyone wishing to conduct further work in this field. It is also the intention of this paper to create general interest in the subject and to draw the attention of non-experts, such as parents, to the problems associated with the translation of childrens literature.
Chapter 1 describes the subject of childrens literature in general. Its historical development and reputation will be shown and a definition attempted. The qualities that are required for a childrens book to be successful will be examined. The concepts of Asymmetry and Ambivalence will be assessed and Manipulation in childrens literature will be discussed.
Introduction
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
2 Chapter 2 focuses on translation, providing a theoretical background with particular respect to distinguishing the concept of childrens literature from that of literature written for adults, and portrays the four main players in the process of translation, i.e. the author, the translator, the publisher and the critic. Differences between cultures and the implications of these will be identified and, in connection with this, methods of adaptation. The section about specific translation problems deals with issues such as the translation of names, language and the role of illustrations. The translation of childrens non-fiction will be touched on briefly.
The current situation in the field of childrens literature, in general and particularly in Great Britain, constitutes the main part of Chapter 3. The position of the consumers, on the one hand, and that of the translator and publisher, on the other, will be highlighted, including the issues of book fairs and co-productions. Some consideration will be given to the apparent dominance of the English language world-wide and to a theory explaining this phenomenon - the Polysystem theory.
Chapter 4 is dedicated to the question of power. An attempt will be made to look behind the processes of childrens literature and its translation, to analyse these and, subsequently, to detect the main influences of power.
Finally, in Chapter 5 some case studies will be presented, illustrating some of the translation problems discussed in Chapters 1 to 4 of this dissertation. The following books and their translations will be analysed: The Moomins, Mrs Christmas, Swimmy and Winnie the Pooh.
To enhance the use of this paper as a reference book, an Index will be added which includes all the key terms.
Childrens Literature 1 Status 1.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
3 1 CHILDRENS LITERATURE 1.1 Status Writers of childrens books often complain that in the literary world they are looked down on as the poor relations of authors working in the adult field. Or rather, not poor relations but simply beginners M. CLARK (1993:1)
This is the beginning of Margaret Clarks chapter Why do you want to write for children?. Why would one want to write for children?
The attitude shown towards authors of childrens books is more than condescending. They are, somehow, seen as if they were the same age as their audience or still at a learning stage. Starting off a career by writing childrens books is regarded as ideal; it will be easy and, in the case of a failure, not much harm will be done because it is only for children. Similarly, Shavit mentions that when Maurice Sendak was awarded a prize for his childrens illustrations, his father asked whether he would now be allowed to work on real books (1994:5).
Childrens literature (ChL) is believed to be less demanding than literature for adults and, therefore, of less value and interest. Outside the field, it is little appreciated and, until recently, most authors of ChL adopted pen names because of this attitude. In addition, the royalties for ChL have always been lower than those for literature written for adults (AdL). Harranth too complains that translators of childrens books are not well paid and that their financial situation influences the quality of their translations (1996:15,16; 1997:16,18). Owing to their inferior status, translations of ChL are often not declared as such and the translators name is usually left out. Childrens books are rarely reviewed and translations and their translators have been - and still are - totally ignored. As a consequence, this situation is reflected in translations where deletions, additions, didactic remarks, lecturing and trivialisation are not unusual. This is accepted, as children are inexperienced and, maybe, still Childrens Literature 1 Status 1.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
4 uncritical readers and as there are few adults who advocate childrens interests. Osberghaus states Den Stellenwert, den eine Literatur einnimmt, kann man immer auch an der Sorgfalt und Beachtung erkennen, die ihre bersetzung erfhrt 1
(1994:12)
In the academic world, ChL is regarded as something sweet and cute - nothing significant and not to be taken seriously. It is the outsider (Hunt 1990:1), the Cinderella of literary studies (Shavit 1994:5). Shavit draws a negative picture stating that
A scholar of childrens literature is always asked to prove that he (or she) can wear the hat of a real scholar if he (or she) wishes to be accepted by scholars of general literary criticism. Only if one is esteemed in a field other than childrens literature, does one stand a fair chance of becoming a member of the academic- literary community
(1994:5)
Carrying on, she points out that
Much of the research has underlined the deflated image of the field and strengthened the opposition between serious research on serious works of literature, and the less important type of research, i.e. that which dominates childrens literature
(1994:7)
Nevertheless, she grants that there is a great deal of potential in the field for setting up a worthy subject of scholarship.
1 The esteem in which a work of literature is held can also always be judged by the care and consideration its translation receives. Childrens Literature 1 Definition 1.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
5 Similarly, Katharina Rei comments on the lack of publications in the field of translation research and notes that E. Cary (1956) and G. Mounin (1967) are the first translation theorists to acknowledge ChL as a genre in its own right. However, there are, according to her, many statements and publications by translators, authors and publishers of childrens books themselves, calling for a theoretical foundation for their work (1982:7).
1.2 Definition
To begin with, it should be noted that there exists no single definition of ChL and, because of the complex characteristics of the subject matter, many different definitions are possible. They range from anything that a child finds interesting including newspapers, magazines, even video films, literature read by children up to the age of 16, literature intended and produced specifically for children to literature for any child or adolescent under the adult age including textbooks for school.
Should a definition be linked to the difference between a good or bad childrens book? But what then is the definition of good? Is it what publishers or adults see as good? Or what the system deems to be at the top of the literary scale (Lewis, Milne) and at the bottom (Blyton, Dahl)? Is a book only suitable when the child gains something from reading it? Or when the child finds it enjoyable? What then is the definition of a child? Which age group is to be considered? Childhood images change over time - which of these images is to be applied in the definition?
Another controversial issue is whether ChL has a right to exist as an independent genre or whether it is only a by product, i.e. whether it can be treated in the same way as AdL, allowing for the same standards to be applied.
Peter Hunt (1991:61) promotes the division of ChL into dead and live books. He claims that the definition of ChL as books read by and being suitable for children, is not practical as this would include every text ever read by a child. However, Childrens Literature 1 Definition 1.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
6 generally, it is only those books which are contemporary (live) which would be regarded as real childrens books.
McDowell tries to define childrens books by their characteristics (in Hunt 1991:63):
They are generally shorter; they tend to favour an active rather than a passive treatment, with dialogue and incident rather than description and introspection; child protagonists are the rule; conventions are much used; they tend to be optimistic rather than depressive; language is child-oriented; plots are of a distinctive order, probability is often discarded; and one could go on endlessly talking of magic and fantasy and simplicity and adventure
As Gte Klingberg points out, there is disagreement about the concept of ChL. He pleads for standardisation of terminology because the same concepts are expressed by different terms in different languages, because many terms are defined in different ways and because scientists from various other fields, in dealing with ChL, use different terms to represent the same concept (1973:35,36).
Riita Oittinen raises the question of whether there is a need to define ChL at all. She bases her question on the observation that
works of literature and whole literary genres acquire different meanings and are redefined again and again. It might, therefore, well be that todays AdL is tomorrows ChL
(1993:42,43)
The past has shown that this is perfectly possible. Books which had originally been written for adults later became childrens books (e.g. Gullivers Travels). Of course, the opposite is also true. Books intended for children have frequently been Childrens Literature 1 Recipients 1.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
7 discovered by adults and some of them have even become cult-books for adults (e.g. Winnie the Pooh).
To establish a reasonable working definition, Klingberg suggests the sender-oriented approach, that is all literature intended and produced for children. Since it suits the purpose of this dissertation, this definition is the one adopted here.
1.3 Recipients Children do not think like adults, act like adults, or talk like adults. And even though we adults sometimes feel that we are exactly the same as when we were ten, thats because what we can no longer conceive of what ten was really like, and because what we have lost, we have lost so gradually that we no longer miss it M. CLARK (1993:37)
Children experience the world around them in a very different way from adults. Adults have learned to see correlations, to reason and, in general, their senses have become dulled through experience. Children do not have the knowledge and skills which adults have had years to acquire. They experience their surroundings in a completely unbiased way and with an immense wealth of fantasy. They have no preconceived ideas; they are open to everything. Because of this, their abilities deserve special attention and consideration. This must be taken into account when writing books for them. A text suitable for children means, therefore, anything that children can understand, that interests them and that meets their needs. As Puurtinen states:
Special characteristics of the child readers, their comprehension and reading abilities, experience of life and knowledge of the world must be borne in mind so as not to present them with overly difficult, uninteresting books that may alienate them from reading
(1994:83) Childrens Literature 1 Recipients 1.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
8 Some form of adaptation is needed in order to bring recipients and text closer together. In this context, researchers identify two types of adaptation:
1. assimilation stands for adaptation of the text to the knowledge and abilities of the children, thus the object is adapted to the subject; 2. accommodation plays a role in adapting the children to the text, acknowledging that they are flexible. Children give a new interpretation to alien and incomprehensible factors, making them familiar and comprehensible.
Assimilation and accommodation complement each other. However, assimilation will be of more importance in the earlier stages of reading and will decrease as the child gets older.
Emer OSullivan speaks of Rezeptionsfhigkeit des kindlichen Lesers 2 (1991a:5) and of Rezeptionsbedingungen der Kinderliteratur 2 (1991b:6) meaning the characteristics of children and the requirements of ChL to be comprehended by them. She sees four characteristics which depend on age and degree of development of each child
1. noch nicht voll ausgebildeter Erwerb der Muttersprache 2. noch nicht voll ausgebildeter Erwerb literarischer Muster 3. Reduziertes referentielles Wissen 4. Begrenzte Rezeptionsfhigkeit fr fremdartige Inhalte 3 (1991b:5)
Consequently, she advocates the use of free translations and localisations.
Rei also sees the necessity for adaptations because of her three characteristics of the child reader:
2 the child readers comprehension abilities 3 1. not yet fully developed acquisition of mother tongue 2. not yet fully developed understanding of literary patterns 3. reduced referential knowledge 4. limited ability to comprehend foreign content Childrens Literature 1 Recipients 1.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
9 1. Eingeschrnkte Weltkenntnis 2. Eingeschrnkte Lebenserfahrung 3. noch nicht voll ausgebildete Sprachkompetenz 4 (1982:8)
Although these characteristics are inherent in all children, their degree varies from child to child. Even among the same age group, children will have arrived at different levels of experience, skills and abilities. Society should acknowledge this and not try to compare and judge but accept that children are different and stimulate them accordingly. Schneck (1993:3) warns against the general fear of offering stimuli too early; though at their own pace, children will be motivated and learn as long as they are kept interested, because of their desire to learn and understand.
Resch (1993:8) takes up this view, speaking about Lesefhigkeit und Rezeptionsfhigkeit 5 . Under no circumstances should children be underestimated, she states. They understand much more than adults would believe and they need this challenge to grow and develop. She rejects the concept of reading ages and assignment of typical texts for boys and girls as being out-dated. She prefers the concept of types of readers: pragmatic, emotional, rational and literary. In this, she agrees with Richard Bamberger who, as far back as the 1960s, established four types of reading preferences (no year:6):
the romantic who prefers fantasy and adventure the realist who prefers factual books the intellectual who prefers acquiring knowledge, looks for explanations and practical usefulness in what s/he reads the aesthetic type who enjoys the sound, rhythm and rhymes and who likes to re-read books
4 1. limited world knowledge 2. limited experience of life 3. language competence which is not yet fully developed 5 ability to read and comprehend Childrens Literature 1 Language, Reading Situation and Readability 1.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
10 The problem with categorising readers, however, is that they do not belong only to one of these groups but are a combination type and show characteristics of all types in varying degrees.
In any case, factors like social group, education, leisure activities and psychological leanings should be considered, all of which reflect the situation in which children live and should, therefore, be included in ChL in order to meet the needs, wishes and experiences of the child reader.
1.4 Language, Reading Situation and Readability
Literature, in general, divides readerships into 3 groups: adults, adolescents and children. The last of these is sometimes subdivided into very small children up to the age of 5 or 6 and school children up to the age of 11 or 12. Accordingly, one speaks about childrens literature (including picture books for the very young ones), adolescent/juvenile literature and literature for adults. Especially in English-speaking countries, the term childrens literature is used to cover both sub-groups of childrens and adolescent literature. As the borders between these groups are indistinct and interests can differ, it is possible to find members of each group reading books intended for another age. So, one might find adults keen on childrens books or 11-year-olds starting to show interest in literature written for adults.
All of these readerships have different needs. The first books for very small children are intended to be listened to. Later, when children start to read for themselves and begin to develop a mind of their own, texts will become more complicated, providing all kinds of information about life and the world. When a child reaches puberty, his/her taste and preferences change again. The exact point at which this will happen cannot be specified, since it depends on maturity and personal situation. However, according to one school of thought (Oksaar 1979:105; Rei 1982:8), the dividing line Childrens Literature 1 Language, Reading Situation and Readability 1.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
11 lies at the age of about 10, a point in time when adult paradigmatic associations have taken the place of the childs syntagmatic ones 6 .
As has been shown above, the needs of children are wide-ranging and change a great deal within just a few years, whereas once they are adults, context and response will be fairly constant.
Much research has been done with respect to the language typical of children of various age groups. Texts have been examined for sentence length, grammatical difficulties, frequently used words from everyday life and similar criteria. Some - unfortunately rather general - conclusions have been reached:
the narration for younger children has to be clear and effective; the language for older children has to be more complex and more words of a higher register should be used; the type of sentence must be taken into consideration: the younger the reader, the simpler the sentence construction; more basic vocabulary should be used.
More detailed investigations have been undertaken, for instance regarding the sender perspective and receiver perspective, in other words, what linguistic means do children actively use as sender at different ages (performance) and what children are able to understand as receiver (competence). Findings have shown that children, like adults, exhibit a higher degree of competence than performance. The fact that reading involves the childs competence, i.e. as a receiver, is important for authors to know. Consequently, books can be written in a slightly more elaborate way.
The style of childrens books has also been researched to a large degree and scholars have found important results. Dynamic style, using simple syntactic constructions with finite verbs, should be preferred because it is easier to read and understand.
6 paradigmatic associations are those involving the same word class, i.e. an adult tends to associate dogs with cats; a child, however, tends to associate verbs; thus, a childs answer to dog is likely to be bark or run
Childrens Literature 1 Language, Reading Situation and Readability 1.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
12 Static style with its non-finite verbs, complex constructions, passive sentence constructions and more embedded clauses is to be avoided because it has low redundancy, puts a strain on the readers short-term memory and thus interrupts the reading flow (Puurtinen 1994:85). As ChL, to a large extent, is literature to be read to a child, this difference in style becomes an essential factor and a dynamic style is even more important.
Psycholinguists have carried out studies with respect to concreteness and abstractness of expressions. According to their results, small children have a need for concrete language with a preference for verbs taken from their daily life (not so many nouns) and many repetitions of words and sentences. Up to the age of about 11, they have only a limited capacity to understand idioms, metaphors and other kinds of figurative devices. Only in puberty does their linguistic comprehension and cultural familiarity fully develop and they are able to link these two skills.
What has been said so far relates partly to a field which is known as readability. Readability is not only determined by the text but also by the readers entire situation. Frequently, literature misinterprets this term, referring to texts as easy or difficult to read. However, Oittinen states that, regardless of the individual reading situation, readability
is much more than just counting nouns, adjectives or other constituents in a text. Reading is always linked with emotional charge [...], reading means living and feeling the texts to be read
(1993:78)
There is a difference in opinion here between Oittinens views, representing the thinking of scholars of a more modern school of thought, and the theorists of the 1960s and 1970s. Bamberger, for instance, one of Viennas main proponents in the field of ChL whose theories date from that time, established only elements like lengths of lines, print size, lengths of individual words, sentences and chapters, type of vocabulary and style as influencing elements of readability (1984:45).
Childrens Literature 1 Language, Reading Situation and Readability 1.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
13 Rosenblatt, too, (in Oittinen 1993:71,72) discusses different reading strategies depending on the reader and the reading situation. She distinguishes between aesthetic and efferent reading, explaining that these differ in two essential aspects - time and experience. Aesthetic reading encompasses the readers whole reading experience, whilst efferent reading describes the analytical, logical side to the reading process and the acquisition of facts and information. She states that adult reading takes place on the efferent level, while children, driven more by emotion, read on the aesthetic level.
Connected with readability is the term speakability coined by Snell-Hornby (1988:35). She refers to the situation of reading a text aloud to a child. Although the child is not yet able to read for him/herself, this is the first contact with literature and listening becomes to him/her an active and creative event. The child internalises the story and participates in it. Owing to the special nature of this process, great importance has to be attached to read-aloud stories; rhythm, tone, intonation and punctuation need to be placed correctly in order for the text to flow and for the child to form a mental image.
The question of illustrations will be touched upon briefly, because they also are part of the readability/speakability and the comprehension of texts. The visual element is more effective than the verbal one. Reading can be laborious and pictures can help here, inciting the imagination. Particularly if children find a story difficult to read, illustrations help them with their reception and comprehension of the text. Bamberger disputes this, however, and says that illustrations can distract the child from reading, that the child would make better progress in comprehension by text without illustration and that s/he may be irritated because a character does not look as s/he imagined (1984:46). The effect of cover illustrations ought to be given particular consideration, because this is what first attracts the attention of child readers and awakes their interest in the content of the book. It should also attract the attention of adult buyers, making them want to buy the book for their child.
Childrens Literature 1 Successful Books 1.5
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
14 1.5 Successful Books If a book had been in print for four or more years [...] a criterion for obtaining successful status had been met M. WHITE (1992:264)
Maureen White had a closer look at the types of books. She found that these were books based on subjects which have universal appeal (such as fairy tales), which are popular in any country (such as animal stories), or books which are based on activities children can relate to. She also found a greater number of books of a serious or political nature. Based on her findings, she fixed the following criteria for success: capture the imagination, broaden view, entertain and inform.
Children love mystery and secrets as well as the poetic, according to Schnfeldt (1979:366). Nevertheless, informing them about reality is essential, too. Thus, she sees the appeal of childrens books in a mixture of fantasy and reality.
Klingberg conducted field studies amongst children in Sweden to investigate reading interests, reading frequency and emotional reactions to stories. He interviewed boys and girls of all social classes, age groups and intellectual levels, in both town and country, and counted the attributes most frequently given to their favourite books. Boys placed the adjective exciting first, whereas girls had both exciting and various types of emotional adjectives in first place (1973:132).
Klingbergs results are similar to those of Tabbert who carried out research on incentives for reading, finding that incomprehensible words or excessive length are easily forgotten if the incentives to continue reading are high enough. According to Tabbert, the two favourite adjectives boys and girls use to describe what they want in their literature are exciting and funny (1994:48,49). He defines two types of excitement - basic excitement pervading the whole book and episodic excitement in individual scenes - and suggests that, for an author, it is not difficult to create excitement. Humour, as it appeals to children, is humour in figures, in situations or in language and the presence of all three is a prerequisite for success. Furthermore, he points out that Childrens Literature 1 Asymmetry and Selection 1.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
15 Die Wirkung einer Erzhlung auf den Leser nicht nur von Elementen der dargestellten Welt ausgeht, sondern auch von den Leerstellen und Unbestimmtheiten, die sich bei der Darstellung ergeben; sie sind es, die der Phantasie Spielraum lassen 7
(1994:49)
Fairy tales and fantasy novels, in particular, show this element of vagueness and are, therefore, extremely effective.
ChL must correspond partly or wholly with the childrens imaginative world and their way of thinking. As Matsuno expresses it
Young children cannot read books objectively. They get involved. In books, children can experience various adventures which they cant experience in their actual daily life
(1988:17)
Children go into the world of the story, they identify the events in the books with their own experiences. They read a book because of its contents and not because it has been written by a certain author, their reading is thus associative and not cognitive and, most importantly, they continue reading only if they enjoy a book. These factors determine their reading behaviour and will contribute to the childs idea of a successful book. However, there are other, more dominant criteria by which books are declared successful which, unfortunately, do not match those of the children. These will be examined more closely in the next sections.
1.6 Asymmetry and Selection
If communication partners are not equal, communication structures are asymmetric. ChL differs from AdL in that the authors of childrens books and their audience have
7 The effect that a narration has on the reader derives not only from the elements depicted in the story but also from its gaps and vagueness; it is these gaps which allow the imagination to roam Childrens Literature 1 Asymmetry and Selection 1.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
16 a different level of knowledge and experience. It is adults who choose the topics and decide on a literary form and it is also they who publish, sell, review, recommend and buy childrens books without the children themselves having a chance to participate in this process. The only decisive factor is the adult notion about the needs and wishes of children.
The translation of ChL further increases this asymmetric relation. As translators, editors and publishers in the TL country, adults again take control, deciding what is suitable for the child readers of the TL culture, what they are able to grasp and how the text is to be translated. This asymmetry implies a different way of handling writing for children than writing for adults.
There are many hidden dangers in the translation process in the field of ChL because it is easy for adults to forget to take the childs interest into consideration (see sections 1.9; 2.5; 4).
Torben Weinreich developed a model illustrating the selection process that takes place (1978:148,149). He defines the categories of people influencing the selection on behalf of the children and represents them in a diagram:
The outer circle is taken up by the international book market. It offers an enormous range of books to publishers and their consultants (representing the second circle) who then choose books, either from their own country or foreign ones which are to be translated. These are books which they consider suitable and therefore intend to publish. As the next step, the range of books available to the child is further narrowed down - it is the public authorities turn to select what are the good books which can safely be offered in libraries and used in schools. Also, parents will watch closely what is available and select again only those books they feel are suitable for Childrens Literature 1 History and Development of Childrens Literature 1.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
17 their child. This leaves the child in the centre, at the end of the chain, with the books that remain. These, eventually, constitute his/her reading material.
All these layers obviously have good reasons for leaving some books behind and focusing on a few particular ones. Each layer feels responsible for the next one and somehow feels that they ought to make decisions for them - first at the national level, then locally, for their own institutions. Here, Weinreichs picture could be modified slightly to create a special stratum for parents, acting as a private authority after librarians, teachers and booksellers have met their public responsibility.
However it is seen - either as Weinreichs original or the modified picture - it is obvious that everyone takes part in this process apart from the child, the person the book is aimed at in the first place.
As a result, from the immense quantity of books originally available all over the world, only a small percentage actually reaches the child. This demands a closer look at why so many books are sorted out at all different levels and what actually makes some books more suitable for children than others. Before this is done however, a short look at the history and development of ChL may be valuable in understanding the roots of the wish to manipulate. Also, to round out the picture of adapting texts to certain norms, it will first be necessary to describe the concept of ambivalence.
1.7 History and Development of Childrens Literature
The images of childhood and the child concept respectively have undergone profound changes over the course of time. This becomes evident in childrens reading materials from the past as this is where childhood images are reflected.
Childrens Literature 1 History and Development of Childrens Literature 1.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
18 Rutschmann (1996:10) portrays the child of the18 th century as an incomplete young adult who has yet to be trained in all the ethical qualities required of adults, such as the work discipline or the ability to be patient. In the 19 th century, the romantic childhood image started to flourish with childhood being equated to a lost paradise. Around 1900, adults attempted to protect children from the reality of their world; children were to be sheltered for as long as possible from the hardships of life.
Baumgrtner presents a similar picture, describing three periods in the historical development of ChL in German-speaking countries (1979:10,11,12; 1985:679,680).
The first period is the Middle Ages, where there was no division of literature for different age groups and the children simply participated.
The second period lasted until about the 1760s and 1770s and is characterised by consensus on the texts from general literature considered suitable for children and which were then adapted: religious texts, legends and fables. Thus, all forms of didactic texts were found particularly suitable.
The beginning of the third period, in which the genre of ChL finally emerged, is marked by J . H. Campes translation of Robinson Crusoe written in 1779. This translation was significant because it introduced a type of ChL which was more directly addressed to the needs of adults than those of the children.
Baumgrtner acknowledges four reasons for the development of an independent genre of ChL at exactly this time, namely
1. compulsory school attendance for all children was introduced and people learned to read; 2. the phenomenon of the reading revolution started, bringing about intensive instead of extensive reading with people reading a large number of books for pleasure; 3. the middle classes began to be interested in pedagogical issues; 4. the concept of childhood originated and children were seen as a generation separate from other age groups. Childrens Literature 1 History and Development of Childrens Literature 1.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
19 Another reason may be the influence of J ean-J acques Rousseau (1712-1778), an educationalist advocating new ideas which were generally well received. In opposition to the common opinion of those days, Rousseau argued that childhood is a transition phase and he recognised children as innocent, individual beings with certain needs and wishes.
He summarised his pedagogical ideas in his book mile (1762), describing the upbringing of a rich mans son and the education principles that were applied. One of Rousseaus ideas was that children should start to read as late as possible, to avoid them coming into contact with the corrupt adult society. However, as the first book for children to read, or to be read to them, he recommended Robinson Crusoe, because of the naturalness of the storyline.
Although there had been a translation of Robinson into German in the year 1721, the first successful translation was that by Campe in 1779. Unlike the earlier work, Campes translation was influenced by Rousseaus ideas and was closely linked to the new pedagogic thinking of that era.
As the trend-setter, Campes book and the ideas behind it are worthy of closer investigation. Campes Robinson der J ngere was published in the same year that another Robinson translation came onto the market. This one was actually of higher literary quality than Campes and its translator had stayed faithful to the original, refusing to make any concessions to the limited abilities of children or to the spirit of the age. All these were things that Campe had ignored. On the contrary, he had spoiled the original by using it for his moralistic preaching and for teaching everything that he possibly could within the framework of the book (Bamberger 1978:23). In addition, he had added a great many dialogues which were not in the original, boasting of having adapted his translation to the spirit of the age (Bamberger 1978:24). By this he meant modifying the contents for pedagogic reasons as well as introducing the character of a father reading the story to his children, which gave him plenty of opportunity for moralistic discussions and explanations. Within a very short time his version had become the Bible of parents Childrens Literature 1 History and Development of Childrens Literature 1.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
20 in several European countries, who passed it on to their children, acquainting them with all the educational notions of the age of enlightenment.
Campes Robinson reveals a significant feature of ChL which is its goal not so much of meeting childrens needs or delivering a faithful translation but of aiming at the adult intermediaries and satisfying their desire for a moralistic, educational angle in childrens books. This was the reason underlying Campes success 200 years ago and this is still what counts today.
However, Rousseaus notion of childhood innocence had another consequence. Authors of ChL at that time felt the urge to indulge in self-censorship to ensure that nothing in their books could be considered corruptive. Clean, sanitised versions were the order - a trend which lasted well into the 20 th century.
Nevertheless, there was an exception to the rule. Mark Twain openly dared to violate many of the taboos linked with childrens books. He showed adults in a negative light and his boys misbehaved with impunity. Yet, according to West,
since these books were brought out by a subscription publisher rather than a standard publishing house, no one tried to censor these books before they were published
(1996:500)
It has to be admitted, however, that Twains books became very controversial afterwards.
Another counter-reaction to those sanitised versions was the success of the so-called penny dreadfuls as they were called in Great Britain or dime novels as they were known in America. Emerging in the 1860s, they were cheap books which children could afford to buy themselves and whose authors aimed to satisfy childrens demands rather than win the approval of parents. Naturally, they did not care too much about adult taboos. Needless to say these books became a huge success among young people. This development could not be stopped although adult authorities Childrens Literature 1 History and Development of Childrens Literature 1.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
21 attempted to claim that the books gave a bad impression of life, or worse, that children might become criminals and young people from low social classes might exhibit anti-social behaviour.
This situation of ChL being approved by adults side by side with popular literature, has remained until the present day. Childrens books have always been distinguished according to the extent of social sanction. There has always been the canon of classical childrens books recommended and praised by cultural institutions. These are the good books; those from which children could gain and learn something useful according to the opinion of adults. On the other hand, there has always been non-canonised literature loved by children, disliked and scorned by adults, who feared damage to their children. This explains the fact that popular literature (pop literature) is not, or only to a limited extent, found in public libraries but tends to dominate sales in local bookshops and outlets selling this type of literature, e.g. supermarkets.
Falschlehner (1988:53) argues against a classical canon in the field of ChL, which, to him, represents a behrdlicher Stempel fr Jugendliche unschdlich 8 . He believes that the prize-winning books are not those which are read. His criticism is aimed at pedagogues who recommend books and advocate their interpretation, analysis and discussion, ignoring the fact that books have been written simply to be read, to entertain and to be enjoyed.
Shavit (1981:172,173,174) has done a great deal of research in this field and she has, to her credit, drawn attention to the status of ChL within the whole of a nations literature. Within this framework, she also defines canonised and non-canonised ChL in such a way that the latter neither addresses adults nor is awarded a high reputation. This non-canonised literature includes not only the commercial part but also that part which enjoys different, opposing, alternative trends (see also 3.1; 4.3; 4.5; and emancipatory literature).
8 official stamp not harmful to young people Childrens Literature 1 Ambivalence 1.8
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
22 After the Second World War, a great desire for international sharing of childrens books arose and large numbers of books from all over the world began to be translated. The International Youth Library in Munich was established and it has now one of the largest collections of childrens books in Europe. In 1953, the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) was set up with the aim of bringing together childrens authors, editors, publishers, critics and teachers. There has been wide agreement on the importance of books which deal with subjects children are interested in and enjoy reading. However, there are still many voices warning about twee sentimentalisation and authoritarian trends.
Kinder- und Jugendliteratur ist eine Institution, in der sich die Vorstellungen von Erwachsenen spiegeln, um die Sozialisation des Kindes voranzutreiben, ohne dem Kind gleichzeitig zu ermglichen, die Gesellschaft in Frage zu stellen 9
(Zipes 1994:214)
They complain that this is all because books have never been written with children in mind.
1.8 Ambi valence
Hans-Heino Ewers has looked into the question of reader roles. He proposes four different reading situations for a text (in OSullivan 1994:132)
1. Erwachsener als Vermittler bzw. als Mitleser 2. Erwachsener als Leser 3. Kind/Jugendlicher als sanktionierter Leser 4. Kind/Jugendlicher als nicht-sanktionierter Leser 10
The type of text determines the reader type or types in the reading situation.
9 Childrens literature is an institution reflecting the ideas of adults which aim to make the child a member of society without, at the same time, enabling the child to question society 10 1. adult as mediator or co-reader 2. adult as reader 3. child/adolescent as sanctioned reader 4. child/adolescent as un-sanctioned reader
Childrens Literature 1 Ambivalence 1.8
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
23 It is one of the characteristic features of ChL, however, that it addresses readers of different age groups simultaneously. Texts are encoded at two levels, with a message for the young child but also one for an older reader or adult, which is beyond comprehension of the very young reader (double addressing; Doppeladressiertheit). When children read a text they will, for instance, pay attention to the immediately obvious, whereas adults will appreciate the cryptic, hidden or logical levels of the same story.
OSullivan widens this concept to multiple addressing (Mehrfachadressiertheit) which not only includes two readers but extends the model to a variety of possible reader roles.
Examples of books that exist on two levels are Winnie the Pooh, The Little Prince, Pinocchio or Alice in Wonderland. Petzold adds Tom Sawyer, which was originally written for an adult audience but was adapted soon afterwards to make it suitable for children and he suggests that die sogenannten Kinderbuch-Klassiker sich gegen eine Trennung von Erwachsenen- und Kinderliteratur sperren 11
(1994:88).
ChL written in such a refined way is interesting to adults, too, which means they approve of it and are more inclined to buy it for their children. Many childrens authors are aware of this fact and purposely address one particular audience whilst, at the same time, attempting to appeal to another.
By approaching the problem of ambivalence scientifically, Ewers discerns
das Ende der ra jener naiven kinderliterarischen Kommunikationsmodelle, die auf der Empfngerseite nur den kindlichen bzw. Jugendlichen Leser ansiedeln und die Botschaft (den Text) nur auf diesen abgestimmt
11 The so-called classics of childrens literature do not lend themselves to a division into literature for adults and for children Childrens Literature 1 Ambivalence 1.8
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
24 whnen (und nicht immer auch zugleich auf einen mitlesenden Erwachsenen) 12
(1994:18)
He quotes Shavit, who categorises the adult reader scientifically as a possible reader of ChL and describes her concept of Doppeladressiertheit as having an official reader (the child) and an unofficial reader (the adult not openly addressed by the author). She coins the term Pseudo-Kinderliteratur, meaning those books which are extensively read by adults though primarily addressed to children.
Ewers has another concept of Doppeladressiertheit. He develops two forms of addressing ChL to adults (similar to Shavit above). With regard to ChL, adults can take two different reading roles:
as mediators, reading the story to the child; here they read while being conscious of the fact of not being addressed themselves as the actual readers; here they are then no different from the child reader.
Only in the second case does Ewers acknowledge Doppeladressiertheit in ChL, constituting ambivalence because there are two official addressees involved (1994:19).
However, Shavit is of the opinion that ambivalence means the continuous contradiction of two incompatible expectations and, thus, she can only see two ways out of this dilemma:
one leading directly into the sector of AdL, by degrading ChL to pure pseudo- existence one leading, eventually, into the sector of non-canonised, commercial ChL which arises from ignoring adults as addressees; this, in the long run, will mean sacrificing recognition by cultural elites and educational censors.
12 The end of the era of those naive communication models of childrens literature which consider only the child and/or adolescent reader and which imagine the message (text) to be tuned only to him/her (and not always, at the same time, to an adult reader too) Childrens Literature 1 Manipulation and Censorship 1.9
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
25 Opposing this opinion, Ewers doubts that adults are actually ignored in the case of non-canonised ChL. Taking the view that only those adults responsible for canonising are being ignored, he still recognises two groups of adult addresses, namely:
sellers of non-canonised books, who are purely economically motivated buyers, who think of non-canonised books as age-adequate products which can be consumed without problems.
1.9 Manipulation and Censorship
From what has been said so far, the problematic nature of ChL should by now be perfectly obvious. Quite rightly, Norman Shine poses two questions to draw attention to this issue What book can safely be offered to our children? and What do we want for our children? (1978:120). This is what ChL is about.
As has been shown, before it reaches the child, a book must pass through various filter stages and children depend very much on adults to do, and pass on, the right things. They are not yet experienced enough to say that they would prefer something else and even if they were, they are given no choices. Unfortunately, childrens preferences do not tally with adults ideas of them.
There is much pressure on ChL; partly for economic reasons and partly for ideological and educational ones, which determine what kind of literature children are provided with in a certain culture at a certain time.
Adults who provide children with books naturally take a very protective attitude. Most reactions will probably be over-sensitive, but no one wants to take any risks. At the same time, adults want their children to internalise order and discipline so that the children are easier to deal with. They also want to bring up their children in such a way that they adopt their parents social values.
Booksellers and publishers, feeling the pressure from parents, will adapt in order to sell their books; or rather, they will anticipate what it is that parents want and will Childrens Literature 1 Manipulation and Censorship 1.9
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
26 censor anything that they feel would not meet with parental approval. Authors will adapt to survive in the market and write only good books - that is, meaning superficial, sanitised books avoiding controversial and taboo subjects. What society wants, in the end, are good citizens who function according to societys norms. It will therefore exercise pressure on its citizens, i.e. the people working and bringing up their children, and so the circle closes again.
At the root of every society is a kind of moral watchdog which influences the concept of childhood and censors childrens books accordingly. ChL mirrors our society in so far, as this society tries to impress its norms and expectations on the children or, as Meckling writes,
Wer sich mit Kinderbchern auseinandersetzt, setzt sich also mit den Leitvorstellungen der Gesellschaft auseinander, in der diese Bcher geschrieben, verkauft und gelesen werden, und macht sich klar, auf welche Weise sich herrschende Tendenzen in Texten niederschlagen knnen 13
(1975:42)
Similarly D. von Stockar
es gilt [in ChL] traditionsgem jeweils gltige pdagogische, aber auch religise, gesellschaftskritische, politische, ethische [...] Vorstellungen und Modelle zu vermitteln und damit den Kindern zu helfen, integrierte Brger ihrer Gesellschaft zu werden 14
(1996:25)
13 Whoever deals with childrens books, deals with the central ideas of the society in which these books are written, sold and read, and s/he works out how prevailing trends can be expressed in texts 14 The traditional pattern is to convey the valid pedagogical, religious, social, political, ethical [...] ideas and models and, in doing so, help children to become well-integrated citizens in society Childrens Literature 1 Manipulation and Censorship 1.9
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
27 An example, albeit extreme, is the ChL produced and translated in the Nazi era, which is full of propaganda and clearly intended as an ideological instrument. Books being translated at that time were distorted to beyond recognition. Books by German authors were totally rewritten to make them Aryan, e.g. the Karl May books one of which was, for instance, renamed from Kara ben Nemsi to Karl der Deutsche (Harranth, forthcoming).
Authors who choose not to obey these social restrictions bitterly oppose the censorship of their books, as they feel that they live in a society which respects the right of free speech and that, consequently, they should have the right to express their opinions. One of them, Nstlinger, a childrens author from Austria, complained bitterly when publishers thought a remark in one of her books too political;
I really put my foot in it with the esteemed childrens book guild by being unforgivably and wilfully frank; [...] the publisher was quick to remove the outrage from the editions; [...] why should an authors political views not be evident from a book written for children?
(1993:5)
Harsh criticism also came from A. Lindgren in her article published in Babel, who found scenes from her books deleted, shortened or modified because the contents would not match the ideological line of the respective country
Il mest arriv de voir un chapitre censur du premier au dernier mot. [...] Je me dis parfois que les diteurs ont encore bien des choses apprendre sur les enfants 15
(1969:98,99)
It is regrettable that the manipulating aspect of ChL has so much more weight than the aspect of enjoying; that the didactic, moral, ethical, religious, ideological parts
15 It has happened that I have seen a chapter completely censored from the first to the last word. [...] Sometimes, I tell myself that the editors still have a lot to learn about children Childrens Literature 1 Manipulation and Censorship 1.9
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
28 count so much more than the informative, therapeutic, entertaining; that childrens books, in the end, are so suitable for a child that all the vigour has disappeared.
Concluding this section with a question, one should ask not What will the child learn? but rather What does the child enjoy? Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Aims 2.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
29 2 TRANSLATION OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE
2.1 Ai ms
Klingberg identifies four aims for the translation of ChL which he groups in two sets of two as follows (1986:10):
1. to further the international outlook, understanding and emotional experience of foreign environments and cultures to make more literature available to children 2. to contribute to the development of the readers set of values to give readers a text they can understand given their lack of knowledge
The first set is diametrically opposed to the second, since the first set justifies a close adherence to the source text (ST), whereas the second set may require alterations or revision of the original text.
Most people, be they authors, translators or publishers, agree with Klingberg that the foremost aim of translating ChL must be to increase international understanding; it is only the way in which this aim is expressed that differs. For example:
J ung calls it Getting to know and respecting other peoples (1996:13)
Flugge calls it Being imaginatively, intellectually and culturally linked to people of other cultures, other languages
(1994:18)
and Carus the earlier in life young children are exposed to one or several foreign cultures, the more open-minded they will be later on
(1980:174)
Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
30 With respect to the development of the readers values, children ought to learn to see differences but also the human similarity of others. In this sense Burns writes:
Take the children out of themselves into entirely new worlds and let them find there children exactly like themselves
(1962:94) and Galda Cultures different from their society, some of them showing commonalities which everyone shares
(1991:486)
By promoting understanding of both different and common qualities in this way, the children are at the same time helped in learning how to find themselves.
J obe believes Translated books become windows allowing readers to gain insights into the reality of their own lives through the actions of characters like themselves
(1996:519)
They see that people of other cultures experience the same problems and stresses and can relate this to themselves to realise that they are not alone.
2.2 Cultures and Regional Effects
2.2.1 Cultures
Culture is defined as the combination of the ways and means of acting, thinking, feeling and perceiving reality, within which language plays a vital role. When translating, differences in cultures must be identified in order to derive solutions in accordance with the established concept of the target text culture (TC).
It is easier to translate texts between similar cultures than those which are vastly different. This is because the languages of related cultures have similar historical roots and vocabulary, grammar and language patterns will be similar. Another reason is the fact that a countrys ChL, representative of its cultural background, is Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
31 determined by pedagogic, moral and political values and for children to understand and process these values, they need to be equated with familiar ideas. Therefore, similar concepts in the literature of source language (SL) and target language (TL) will help the transposition process.
Cultural translation barriers arise because of different perceptions of the genre of ChL. As Shine argues
it is possible that certain cultures are antagonistic towards the introduction of genres foreign to their ChL. It is also possible that such cultures interpret genre definitions in such ways as to inhibit the introduction of foreign equivalents
(1978:119)
Cultural conventions can also be broken by the length of a text. Igor Motyashov gives as an example the translations of childrens books from Russian into J apanese. In J apanese characters, a text is normally half as long again as the ST which makes the book twice or even three times the size of what is considered acceptable for a childrens book in J apan. It goes without saying that this influences translation practices. In order not to break conventions, the ST is shortened and adapted or only short stories or novelettes are translated (1978:101,102).
A country receiving a translated text can react in different ways. Wolfram Eggeling portrays a model, established by J . Link, of how literature can be received socially and outlines four patterns (1994:16, 17):
1. primary conculturality Text and audience belong to the same epochal culture. The readers show interest and can identify with the text, although they need not necessarily agree with it. The book promotes debate. 2. disculturality Expectations and aesthetic experience of the audience clash with the ideologies and aesthetic procedures of a text; alienation is created. A relation between text Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
32 and audience does not arise because the audience does not show readiness for discussion and the book is rejected. 3. secondary conculturality This happens in the case of differing ideologies between text and audience. Here, however, the text is adjusted to the audiences expectations. Link sees this type as a common process happening in literature. 4. classicity The audience perceives the text as aesthetic. However, because of historical or cultural distance, it no longer plays a role. Link stresses that the audiences reaction does not have to be negative and, also, that it is possible that the audience will react with secondary conculturality towards historical texts.
In ChL, the crucial question is what has been deleted from a book and why. In the case of disculturality, it should be considered whether there was really no possibility for secondary conculturality or whether the foreign elements could not have been received as exotic in the sense of classicity. Von Stockar (1996:27) emphasises that, in ChL, secondary conculturality is of great significance owing to its pedagogical and didactic task. Revised versions and adaptations make sure that cultural peculiarities of the ST are adjusted to the knowledge and experience of the target text (TT) reader. A decision must be made from case to case whether such a treatment is justifiable or not (see also 2.3.1).
2.2.2 Regional Effects on Childrens Literature
Returning to the aim of international understanding, there are different, closely- linked, geographical regions which facilitate or hinder the contribution ChL can make to international understanding by their influence on the distribution paths of translated childrens books.
Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
33 Klingberg defines a childrens literature region as a group of countries characterized by a common pattern as regards the SLs of published translations of childrens books (1978:89). The formation of such regions is explained mainly through history and through close contacts between the respective countries. Within each region the import of childrens books from different languages shows roughly the same pattern and books in certain languages are translated more often than books in other languages. This explains, he says, why there are books which simply do not fit in a certain country because of its culture and which, therefore, are better not translated.
The majority of translated childrens books originate from countries belonging to closely related language areas with, to a large degree, similar sociocultural structures. In this respect, it should be noted that various characteristics like political and social structures, conventions and customs contribute to shaping the culture typical of a particular country. These cultural specifics (peculiarities) vary between countries, though there will be some overlap, which increases the closer these countries are geographically and politically.
Hence, translations represent cultural transfers attempting to render the culture- specific details of the TL, making them clear to the reader without interrupting the flow. In the case of major cultural differences between ST and TT which the translator has failed to adjust or adjust sufficiently to the TC, publishers are likely to turn down the book. However, this problem should not occur too often because - in practice - only literature from countries with a similar cultural structure is translated.
It is particularly to Klingbergs credit that he has investigated this subject although others, such as Rei, OSullivan and Bamberger, have also contributed.
Numerous studies have attempted to trace the flow of literature to determine which countries enjoy closely-affiliated literary relationships. Findings have shown that Scandinavia, Germany and Austria belong to the same geographical ChL region (Furuland 1978; Shine 1978). This is characterised by the excessive import of books from the Anglo-American language area, a moderate import from French and Dutch Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
34 literature, a reasonable flow between these countries themselves and by an almost total failure to import from other language areas, such as Asiatic or Slavic. However, countries from the former Eastern bloc, including the USSR, have between themselves a regular exchange of their respective literatures, as do the Asiatic countries, and the Spanish and French regions are also closely connected.
Both Furuland and Shine found the hypothesis confirmed that literature regions are formed by close political, economic and cultural activities.
An informative study was conducted by Rutschmann, which investigated the four different language areas within the Swiss confederation (1996) - the German, Italian, French and Rhaeto-Romanic ones. Her analysis revealed that the German, Italian and French area mainly exchanged literature with neighbouring countries of the same language whilst between one another, as far as Rutschmann could detect, there was hardly any cultural activity at all. However, by far the biggest imports for all four regions are from the Anglo-American region. Rutschmanns results confirm the scientific hypotheses mentioned above and a further study by Klling confirms the validity of Rutschmanns own findings (1984:71).
Another significant aspect is the existence of different notions of childhood in each Swiss language area and how this is expressed in ChL. In German ChL, childhood plays an important role and children are acknowledged as equals of adults. Protagonists in childrens books are allowed to violate the rules and are sometimes even portrayed as anarchic. Criticism and moralistic consequences follow, though always in a humorous vein. In contrast, French literature treats children as being incomplete and incompetent and offers them unhappy or mature children to identify with. French protagonists act with rationality and re-establish order (Tintin), whereas figures who act in a childlike way are portrayed as inadequate - which, in the books, is aimed at overcoming quickly. A well-known example is Lindgrens Pippi Lngstrump whose character completely changed when the book was translated into French (Lindgren 1969), or Ronja Rvardatter, a book by Lindgren translated into German and French but much more widely disseminated and successful in German- speaking language areas. Italian ChL tends to portray the inner, moralistic Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Cultures and Regional Effects 2.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
35 development of its protagonists striving for virtue (Pinocchio). The central theme is changing bad into good.
Like Rutschmann, Klling found that reading tastes differ between the individual Swiss regions. She also mentions librarians who had taken care to choose books using Swiss German, as they felt that the other types of German (from Germany or Austria) would sound too foreign for Swiss children - even to the extent of not being understood at all. Also, they feared the loss of the childrens own national identity. According to Klling, a childs comprehension is affected more directly by foreign sayings than by foreign culture-specific elements. This shows the significance and problems of different dialects within the same language; there are many shades of a language and it is not necessarily true that English is English or French is French.
Harranth (1993:30; 1997:17) makes a similar point in recognising a discrepancy between Austrian German and Standard German. As the German spoken in Germany is the dominant form with respect to publishing and marketing, it makes more sense economically to translate into this type of German. However, Austrian children may then find the cultural gap insurmountable and may reject the book.
According to the degree of cultural closeness or alternatively the degree of foreignness, different considerations will play a role and different processes will come into effect. If the cultural difference is too big and is considered impossible to overcome, the result will be that a book is not translated at all. In the event of less dominant cultural specifics - which is the case with the majority of translations - it is up to translators to decide if and when to withhold information from the readers, so as to avoid making changes to the text, or whether to make available the culture- specific elements to the readers. But, in doing so, they have to adjust the text or give explanations in footnotes or a preface.
Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
36 2.3 Translation of Childrens Books
The topics discussed in previous sections of this chapter lead to issues and problems of translation and to translation procedures which will now be dealt with in the remaining sections of the chapter. One of the first questions to be asked concerns the genre of ChL. Is ChL a genre in its own right or is it a special form of literature? Following on from this, the question can be asked whether translation problems in texts written for children and adults are the same and, if not, in which respects they differ.
2.3.1 Translation for Children vs Adults
There seems to be agreement that the translation problems in texts for adults and for children are, essentially, the same; they can be described using the same concepts and can be arranged in the same categories (e.g. Rei 1982:7; Harranth 1984:87; Rutschmann 1996:6; von Stockar 1996:24; Bravo-Villasante 1978:46). However, there are other features of ChL that are debated through all the publications, such as:
the communicative nature of ChL the handling of disculturality and secondary conculturality the level of adjustment to the TC the demands of the intermediary groups the status of the translator of ChL.
All of these are related to the fact that translations of childrens books differ qualitatively, owing to the special characteristics of the audience.
In ChL, the weighting of some aspects is different to its treatment in AdL, such as knowledge and experience, stage of emotional development, asymmetry, influence of intermediary groups and pedagogical considerations. Thus, von Stockar stresses linguistic and literary equality but sees a difference regarding the communicative nature of ChL, referring to the contents which should be conveyed. Also, the concepts of disculturality and secondary conculturality are handled differently in the two genres (see section 2.2.1). ChL seems to have a preference for secondary conculturality whereas AdL allows, and even welcomes, disculturality (1996:27). Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
37 The communicative role is also discussed by Kurultay (1994:200) who asserts that only through this role will the translation be effective in the TC and serve its purpose. Generally, more adjustment to the TC is imperative in childrens translation compared to AdL and he calls for criteria established by translation theory to describe this additional adjustment.
In contrast to AdL, ChL must constantly consider how far its readers can digest the experience of foreign cultures and their peculiarities. This struggle between consideration for the original and regard for the intended readers is a fundamental concern, but a greater one in ChL than in AdL. Stolt even goes so far as to state that the problem of faithfulness has become unimportant in ChL, quoting Astrid Lindgren who once complained that childrens translators were constantly being told you must not say that; thats not good form! (Stolt 1978:132).
Puurtinen believes that, unlike translators of AdL, childrens translators are allowed and even expected to manipulate the original text to fit in with the literary requirements of the recipient country (1994:84). Therefore, it is the translators job to produce highly acceptable translations, because children are not expected to tolerate as much strangeness and foreignness as adults. This authority to alter a text makes the translation of a childrens book seem simple. Nevertheless, Puurtinen disputes this, stressing that writing and translating for both adults and children is not an easy job; she judges the translation of ChL as even slightly more difficult, since the translator has to meet all the demands made of him/her by the intermediary groups (e.g. parents, publishers), as well as meeting the standards of translation theory, linguistics and, of course, the children. Puurtinen feels the need to emphasise these problems so as to contradict the commonly-held belief that the translation of ChL is easy and can be done in an offhand manner.
J ha, in a report about Sarala J ag Mohan, Indian childrens translator, notes Mohans view of translations for children as being more difficult than translations for adults. In adult literature you can play with words but not so much in childrens literature (1993:5). In ChL, the translator must not write too freely, everything has to be more precise and to the point because of the shorter concentration span of Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
38 children. Resch sees translation for children as an art in that translators must formulate the contents this way or that, depending upon whether they address a younger or an older child (1993:11).
Similarly, Harranth detects a difference from AdL in that children have a reduziertes Vokabular und eine noch nicht voll ausgebildete Lese- und Lebenserfahrung 16 (1993:32); therefore, childrens translators have to adapt accordingly to the age group they are addressing. Furthermore, Harranth mentions the costly additional burden of time for searching out explanations of culture-specific elements which, in an adult readership, could be assumed as understood. Lastly, he points out, not without sarcasm, a difference which is for him highly relevant, namely that the translator of ChL is paid considerably less than their AdL counterparts.
2.3.2 Theoretical Aspects of Translation
Rei is one of the few people who has attempted to formulate a theoretical approach to the translation of ChL. She describes the translation process as based on the functionalist interactive model first proposed by Vermeer (1978:100,101). This model includes a sender (author) and a receiver (TT reader) with the translator in the middle (first acting as a receiver, then, when translating, acting as a sender). With respect to ChL, however, Rei widens this model, by introducing the intermediary groups, and links it to her theory of text types (1982:7-12). Finally, she states the importance of a theoretical basis for defining principles specific to translation of ChL.
Unlike translators of books for adults, childrens translators are in the difficult situation of combining the linguistic and cognitive abilities of a child reader with the principles of a translation theory developed mainly with AdL in mind. It is impossible to apply these principles and methods without taking into account the development of the still immature recipient. Thus, the recipient represents an essential non-literary factor for theoretical consideration in the translation of ChL.
16 limited vocabulary and are still learning to read and deal with life Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
39 Orientation to the recipient or the intermediary groups, however, must not be treated as the primary aim of a translation. Although advocated and legitimised by proponents of the Skopos theory (see also 4.2), there is a danger that such an attitude allows translators too many liberties so that they alter the original consciously and excessively. The result is then no longer a translation but what is called an adaptation.
Shavit believes that the translator of ChL can allow him/herself liberties because of the low position of ChL in the polysystem (see section 3.6). S/he may manipulate as long as s/he takes into consideration the following two principles on which ChL is usually based:
1. adjusting the text in order to make it appropriate and useful to the child, in accordance with what society thinks is good for the child
2. adjusting plot, characterization and language to the childs level of comprehension and his reading abilities
(1981:171,172)
The Finnish translator Oittinen puts forward an opinion opposing the general view of faithfulness. She defines a concept of loyalty which means that translators take the expectations of their future readers into consideration. She partly dismisses the general concern over adaptations, because, in her opinion, every translation implies adaptation. Drawing on H. Bloom, she questions the status of the original which can itself be regarded as an adaptation, a version of life (1993:86). Her view is that the authors of the originals have written and adapted their stories for children. The translator, then, adapts with regard to his/her own culture and language. It is a sign of loyalty to the author of the original when a translated text lives on in the TL, and is accepted and loved in the TC.
Oittinen goes on to cite three authors of childrens books - L. Carroll, T. J ansson and R. Dahl - who themselves have re-written their books for different readerships. She therefore assigns the same right to a translator with the duty to be loyal to his/her audience (i.e. her second type of loyalty). One of the main reasons for adaptations, Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
40 she believes, is loyalty to children. Adaptations are produced out of love for children and their literature, not out of disrespect for them and their limited abilities.
From what Oittinen has suggested, it becomes difficult to draw a line between translation and adaptation; there is no real methodological difference between the two anymore. However, her approach is diametrically opposed to that of a great number of scholars, authors and translators. Even those who could benefit, were Oittinens ideas to be adopted, strongly disagree with such an opinion, feeling to a large degree that translations should be transparent but nevertheless acknowledging the problematic nature of faithfulness in ChL.
OSullivan poses the questions: how much foreignness can a young reader take which cultural peculiarities need to be adapted and which may stay unmodified how many explanations does a child need in order to be able to cope with foreign issues (1993a :5)
On this issue, Kurultay takes the view that, in principle, knowledge about foreign elements can be mediated, although children will only be able to read but not yet to assimilate them. Therefore, owing to childrens special reading mode, texts comprising culture-specific items will need to be re-assessed and re-evaluated (1994:199).
This outlook into foreign worlds is an important dimension of translation of ChL, even more so with texts that involve emancipation (1994:194). Such texts enable children to gain experience about things which, in their lives, are suppressed or concealed. Since children are still open to all things new and have not yet internalised the adult constraints of their culture, they would gladly accept these emancipatory stimuli if it were not for adults categorising such literature as damaging and harmful. The tendency to reject and censor this type of ChL will increase even more when the TC is characterised by open didactic functions.
Introducing emancipatory literature into such a restricted culture would lead to conflict between its cultural norms and the forces of renewal (see also 3.1; 4.3; 4.4). Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Books 2.3
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41 Thus, Kurultay recognises a controversial position of translation for ChL; on the one hand, it creates the possibility for a culture to be enriched but, at the same time, it may also create barriers and rejection. He takes the example of a German childrens book called Ben liebt Anna, dealing with love from a childs standpoint. This book has been an overwhelming success in Germany, since there it is in keeping with the cultural conditions of children. However, the Turkish translation was received differently, owing to the repressive attitude of Turkish culture; there, the German attitude is not acceptable and so the book is unlikely ever to be read in public or given to children by their parents. This begs the question of whether the translation of such a book was at all worthwhile, when - although it offered Turkish children a chance of a glimpse into another culture (Kurultays possibility) - the audience was not ready to accept it (Kurultays barrier).
Two translators from another cultural area, J apan, present their opinions on cultural peculiarities in childrens translation, both of them enthusiastic advocators of leaving foreign cultural specifics in translated ChL. J ingu (1988:11) writes about his experiences in translating a story about children enjoying playing games. He was embarrassed at first because, in his culture, playing is seen as a sin. Thus, in translating the book, he encountered something new and he feels that these new, wonderful and evocative experiences should be passed on to children. Ando (1988:10) notes that, quite frequently, negative behaviour of children is omitted when childrens books are translated. He rejects this attitude for two reasons; firstly, because children are simply not angels, though adults want to see them as such; secondly, because children experience various feelings through reading and they can, in this way, experience the negative aspects of life such as cruelty, fear or hate - and learn how to deal with them.
Although foreignness and strangeness may be expected in literary translation for adults, it is not so in translation for children. Here, the tolerance for strangeness tends to be much lower. Nevertheless, as Harranth sees it (1996:15), the task of translation, and in particular childrens translation, is to express what is self-evident in one culture to the people of another culture, for whom this self-evident is strange. This, however, is only possible when it remains recognisable as foreign. A translation will Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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42 then let the original with its cultural specifics shine through. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily mean it is negative - it will be read and appreciated as if it were the original, because children do not distinguish between original writing and translation as long as it speaks their language and is enjoyable to read.
2.4 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children
The four principal players in the translation process, who influence a childrens book from its conception onwards, are the author, the translator, the publisher and the critic. They will be discussed in the following sections, starting with the translator. This change in order is regarded as justifiable because this dissertation is mostly concerned with the translation of ChL and the translator is thus of primary importance. Furthermore, many of the issues affecting the translator also affect the author.
2.4.1 The Translator
It has been said that translating is not a proper job; everything is already written in the original and, once you speak the foreign language, all you need to do is to copy it. The following searching question, written by a desperate translator, J ung, shows that it is not as easy as that:
Wie bersetzt man eigentlich tea-time? fragt sich der bersetzer von Kinder-und Jugendbchern. Einfach mit Tee-Zeit? Aber so etwas gibt es eigentlich in Deutschland nicht, also sollte man vielleicht stattdessen lieber Kaffee-Zeit sagen? Oder noch besser Kaffee und Kuchen? Das kennt schlielich jedes Kind. Andererseits ist Kaffee und Kuchen nun wirklich nicht dasselbe wie tea-time. Schon von der Uhrzeit nicht. Tea-time findet ab 17 Uhr statt, whrend das deutsche Kaffeetrinken schon um 15 Uhr beginnt. Auerdem
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43 trinken englische Kinder zwar Tee, aber Kinder in Deutschland selten Kaffee. Und dann gibt es in Deutschland zwar Kuchen, aber in England beim tea ordentlich was zu essen - fast schon wie unser Abendbrot ... soll das heien, man mte tea-time mit Abendbrot bersetzen? Und wenn man nun in einer kleinen Funote erklren wrde, worum es eigentlich geht ...? 17
(1996:13)
J ungs thoughts clearly illustrate the situation in which translators of childrens books frequently find themselves. Translating means making decisions - decisions about the future child reader and about the publisher or intermediary groups, decisions about when adjustments will be necessary and decisions about theoretical translation principles. A translator is in the difficult position of having to try to do justice to all of these demands. A childrens translator may even find it impossible to achieve a translation which will satisfy all these factors.
Rei grants translators the status of secondary authors who have to make decisions with regard to children. In deciding, they act independently, without any guidance from the author of the ST. This, according to Rei, makes the concept of faithfulness lose its validity (1982:12).
It has already been noted that a translator has to walk a fine line - the line between not having too foreign a flavour - thus, making the text too difficult to follow - and not obscuring small items which give atmosphere to the story, as Anthea Bell, a translator herself, puts it with each individual book, you must gauge the precise
17 How actually should tea-time be translated, the translator of childrens literature wonders. Simply with Tee-Zeit? But there is no such thing in Germany; should one therefore rather say Kaffee-Zeit instead? Or even better Kaffee und Kuchen? This is familiar to every child. On the other hand, coffee and cakes is not really the same as tea-time. If we just consider the time of day ... tea-time is from 5 p.m., whereas the Germans have their coffee already at 3 p.m. Also, English children drink tea but German children rarely coffee. And then, in Germany, you have cakes with your coffee but in England you have a proper meal at tea- time - similar to our supper ... does this, then, mean tea-time should be translated with supper? And what, if one explained in a tiny footnote what its all about ...? Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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44 degree of foreignness, and how far it is acceptable and can be preserved - for another thing you dont want to do is level out to such an inoffensive blandness that the original atmosphere is lost
(1985a:7)
Often, translators will be subject to the temptation of adapting too much, with the excuse that, otherwise, children will not understand. As a rule, in the event of a clash between the meaning and spirit of a story, the translator should decide in favour of the effect and spirit of the story, otherwise children might not read it.
Numerous statements, both long and short, have been made about which qualities and characteristics a translator should ideally provide. Most frequent are remarks about language - knowledge of both SL and TL and a good handling of language in general (Klingberg 1986:10).
Burns calls for translators to have a good command of their own language (1962:69); she regards it as a disadvantage if the original language shines through into the TL because then it becomes immediately obvious that it is a translation. She compares such a work with a collection of words, albeit chosen carefully and pieced together with great skill; however, the outcome will rather resemble a mosaic than a painting. By producing such a mosaic, translators create an obstruction between the reader and what the author of the original has to say. Her solution is for translators to treat the ST as a picture and, in conveying this picture to the TL, express what they see. This will help them to produce not just a string of words but something alive.
Translators should try to keep the vitality of the language of the ST author alive; they should recognise his linguistic means (which may create a difficulty with puns and word-plays) and transfer them into the TL. Get inside the skin of the author, even more so, get inside the skin of the heroes of the author and live inside them is Kornitzkys aim when translating (1997:7).
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45 Creativity is named by many as an important feature, as is the demand to write precisely and use expressions which are as short as possible. Frequently, literary skill is demanded, even that the translator is himself an author. However, this side must not become too dominant in translation, otherwise translators run the risk of falsifying the authors style. Particularly translators who also work as authors are in danger of not being able to subordinate themselves to the ST.
On the human side, translators ought to be sympathetic, sensitive and show understanding for children and their way of thinking and feeling. This does not mean writing childishly but with an eye to the way people and things may appear to a child.
Translators should have the ability to feel themselves into the language of children; they should be able to formulate their texts on a level appropriate to the respective age group addressed. As Resch puts it they address either little Hans or big Peter (1993:11). Thus, translators should know the language for children, but also the one of children, i.e. their vernacular. They should be aware of differences in style between the ST and the TT culture. Burns (1962:78,79) argues, for instance, that French childrens books have an adult style, full of abstract nouns and figures of speech. Italian style will frequently sound florid to other cultures. Hence, these differences have to be modified to the type of style common in the TT culture.
Beuchat and Valdivieso discuss the tasks of translators. Referring to cultural issues, they see the necessity for translators
to be aware of the importance of preserving the peculiarities, those characteristics that distinguish the nations reflected in literature. The translator is an associate creator, a link, more cultural than bilingual in nature, and not merely a transcriber
(1992:13)
Translators must know about the habits and everyday life of the ST country and be prepared to travel there or at least keep in touch with native speakers, so as to not Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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46 lose contact with that country. How realistic this demand is, is illustrated by an example. On a visit to the USSR, Neumann had been shown Russian poems written for children and their translations into German. However, these translations had apparently been written by someone who had never been to Germany and whose language therefore sounded unauthentic and, in parts, would have been fairly incomprehensible to children living in Germany (1979:121).
Translators should, at the outset, make themselves familiar with the contents of the book and eliminate every uncertainty. Consulting encyclopaedias, asking native speakers, ringing the embassy, even seeking out the author are suggested in order to deliver a correct and satisfying translation. Hence, translators need the traits of Flei, Ausdauer, Geduld im Nachschlagen und Liebe zu geduldigen Auseinandersetzungen 18 (Bamberger 1963:34). Common sense, however, is also an essential attribute; Harranths example of Mars, J upiter may serve here as a warning
In the 18 th chapter of Huckleberry Finn, Huck passes himself as George Elexander and consequently is addressed Mars Jawge by a negro-slave using the onomatopoeic language of negroes. In 1910, a translator disregarding the context, only recognised a planet in Mars and, consequently, deduced Jupiter from the word Jawge
(forthcoming)
Kornitzky names humility as a striking characteristic. Translators cannot be as good as their authors, they can never really reach them - an opinion also supported by Bell. Quoting her
Supposing the original text is good, the translation never comes out quite as good as one could wish. Perhaps this is only as it should be, and the text that can
18 diligence, stamina, patience when consulting reference sources and enthusiasm for in- depth comprehension of texts Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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47 actually be improved by translation is not worth translating in the first place
(1986:26)
A different role is given to the translator by Neumann (1979:118) who grants him/her the liberty to improve a book that is only mediocre.
A similar position is taken by Oittinen, supporting the idea of a visible translator. She develops her idea from the reading situation, beginning with the statement that a text is not a constant object but causes a different response at each reading. So, she sees texts as endless chains of interpretations. In this context, the translator travels back and forth between the ST and the TT in production, influenced by the previous words and passages which, in turn, influence the words and passages to come. Translators are readers first, creating a secondary world in their own imagination. Their first reading will be of the aesthetic kind (see also 1.4), experiencing the atmosphere of the story. Reading it again will involve efferent reading (see also 1.4), analysing the text and dealing with it logically. Secondly, translators are also performers and interpreters of the text by recreating an approximation of the original idea of the author.
Additionally, every translator has in their mind a special child image, their superaddressee. This child will have certain qualities which, in turn, will influence the way the translator addresses him/her. At the same time, translators as former children will bring memories from their own childhood to their reading experience. In translating, they combine both of these child images, their own and the superaddressee. Taking into consideration all these elements, Oittinen attaches to the translator the roles of a reader, writer and especially an interpreter who interprets situations A1, A2, A3.... into situations B1, B2, B3... (1993:177). Thus, in her opinion, translators never translate texts alone; translations are not just a rendering from text A into text B. Because of that, good translators do not hide behind the author but make show themselves; good translators are loyal to their readers and, also, to the author of the original by being faithful to themselves and faithful to their own interpretation.
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48 Although Oittinens opinion of a translator standing in full view is debatable, it is a fact that translators are already recipients themselves and, therefore, inevitably interpreters. They are not able to interpret objectively owing, firstly, to their own subjective experiences and, secondly, to the fact that interpretations change over time. This makes the demand for identical elements of style and content in both ST and TT problematic and it is thus impossible to give the one and only correct interpretation of a text.
Whatever the theoretical reflections, literary translators may be more concerned with their everyday life. Owing to the way the job is perceived, it is assumed that merely translating ChL does not fill them with pride; they are, as Neumann states, instead suspected of having been a failure in another profession. She continues Prominent wird ein bersetzer nur durch eigene literarische Ttigkeiten [...] oder durch theoretische Arbeiten und Buchkritik 19 (1979:115). It takes a long time, especially for a childrens translator, to become well-known, appreciated and respected by publishers. Not only is the social status modest, so too is the salary. Although it is theoretically possible, very few can afford to reject a commission. Many translators have to work in uncertain conditions, self-employed with little financial security, with commissions which vary from contract to contract, depending on the translators own negotiating skills or the general market conditions. Many only survive because of the financial security offered by a partner or else can afford only to translate as a hobby.
In contrast to technical translators, there is little formal training available for literary translators. Similar to authors, the majority of literary translators become translators simply by starting to translate. Thus, there are people with many different qualifications and backgrounds working in this profession.
A childrens translator needs a lot of idealism, willingness to forgo the soulless pursuit of material rewards according to translator Sarala J ag Mohan (J ha 1993:7).
19 A translator only becomes famous through writing his/her own books [...] or through work in the theoretical field or as a critic Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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49 On the other hand, they are expected to undertake research so as to offer data to support their translations. The catch, however, is that acquiring information takes time which they cannot actually afford. Translators who work fast will earn more, so, for financial reasons, translators may be more concerned with the quantity than the quality of their translations. Living in a materialistic world, dominated by economic considerations, production conditions determine the quality of translations making a luxury of good translations which the translators cannot financially afford (Becker 1978:40).
To encourage motivated translators not to rush their jobs, it ought to be a matter of concern for society to improve their surroundings and working conditions.
2.4.2 The Author
Authors have a very similar role to translators with respect to social status and responsibility towards child readers. They also show a tendency to influence their audience and, either directly or more insidiously, incorporate their own personal assumptions. However, a big difference lies in the fact that translators do, more or less, have to stick to what an author has produced, whereas authors are free to select any literary instrument to colour their story as they choose. Thus, they may use tools like creating images or first-person narrative in order to influence the child and direct his/her sympathies.
On the other hand, being at the start of the translation chain, authors are at the mercy of the subsequent elements in the chain, i.e. translators and publishers. In her article in Babel, Lindgren describes her ambiguous relationships with translators of her work - needing them but also having to trust that they will do their job to her, the authors, satisfaction (1969:100). In taking this view, she, the author, does not stand alone.
Sometimes, authors translate their books themselves which makes the act special in so far as, in this case, alterations to the original are allowed, so that the author- translator enjoys considerably greater rights than the ordinary translator. Only authors are free to re-interpret their own texts, being the ultimate authorities Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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50 according to de Beaugrande (in Oittinen 1993:140). According to this opinion two standards of translations are created, one by the author of the original, having higher status, the other regarded as lower because it is created by a mere ordinary translator. Questions arise here as to the intellectual property of authors, the value of the work of a translator or as to similarities and differences in translations done by author or translator.
2.4.3 The Publisher
As businesses, publishing houses must operate on a profit-oriented basis with the primary goal of sales as high as possible in order to gain sufficient return on their money. Forced to maintain strict budgetary limits, they choose carefully for the list of books to be published (including books for translation) and finance re-translations and re-issues of books already on the market. As they can only produce what sells, they have a set of criteria to follow when making their selection. These are influenced by their fear of criticism from the intermediary groups, as well as by financial considerations.
Publishers will tend to choose books by established authors, since they cannot afford to wait for a breakthrough title. The choice of authors will be ideologically driven according to taste and the trend of the moment as Bravo-Villasante puts it (1978:49). Furthermore, a renowned author is more likely to produce another quality book which will attract buyers. A similar policy is pursued with translators. Every publishing house has its own translators, employed according to each book to be translated.
When choosing titles for translation, publishers will tend to select those from similar cultural areas and those written in languages spoken by staff or editors. Normally, books will find their way into translation only when they represent a positive contribution to the publishing list, so, when they represent a new type of literature for the publishing house.
The economic interests of the publishing house will also have an effect on the translators contract, limiting the time available for translation and the translators Translation of Childrens Literature 2 The Four Main Players in Translating for Children 2.4
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51 fee. There are frequent complaints that payment is too meagre and an increase is demanded, but this would involve an increase in the retail price of the finished product which, in turn, renders the publisher less competitive in the marketplace.
Once the translation has been submitted, editors will take charge of it, making alterations, according to the moral views of society, but also in line with economic considerations, such as limiting page numbers. Decisions about the layout will be made at this stage too, which, in the case of illustrations, are crucial to the quality of the book because pages, which are too densely packed, meet neither aesthetic nor didactic requirements.
Until recently, the publishers habit of omitting the name of translators or adaptors has led to some concern. However, because of public pressure on this issue, there has been a great deal of improvement there.
In the last few decades, publishing houses have followed a policy of co-productions which, by sharing expenses, even help them to operate more economically (see sections 3.2.2.2; 4.3). Hence, publishers are fairly powerful organisations in the field of ChL, rigidly planning their finances and directing the literary supply in a certain language area.
2.4.4 The Critic
Professional critics must balance the interests of the audience with those of quality. They should make allowances for cultural differences and translation problems. They may start from a position of sympathy, but must ultimately be critical. These are the qualities which Betsy Hearne assigns to critics (1991:562). It takes longer to review a book that has been translated because there are new dimensions and additional factors to be considered. Maybe this is why many critics do not review the translation itself, but only judge the original behind it (which they might not have read nor even be able to understand) and indulge in generalisation and pedantry.
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52 Reviews not only appear as short articles in magazines and newspapers, they also take the form of recommendation lists or awards for suitable childrens books. Reviews reflect pedagogical intentions and the opinion of society about its ChL. Reviews represent a way to regulate literary supply on the market since schools, libraries and parents will be influenced by them.
However, as early as in 1979, Knnemann (1979:294) disputed the power of the review, arguing that there is no proven case where it had prevented dissemination of unsuitable literature. The book market, with all the trivia on the shelves, is the best evidence, he states, that the number of copies published or the lists of publishing houses remain quite unaffected by reviews. This is a phenomenon which still holds today and which proves that the award-winning or recommended books are not the ones that are bought and that make money for the publishers. Or does it rather prove that reviews apply different standards to those of the reading public and have therefore lost touch slightly with reality?
2.5 Adaptation
What is it that J . Verne and D. Defoe have in common? Both have had their books censored with regard to ideology. In the case of J . Verne, anti-semitic passages were eliminated by the J ewish translator who was convinced that these passages were harmful to children. The translator of Robinson Crusoe, being Catholic, suppressed the Protestant moral of the book when he translated it and adapted it to Spanish conditions (Bravo-Villasante 1978:47).
All translators, if they want to be successful, have somehow to adapt their text to their presumptive readers. Nevertheless, is it permissible to mutilate and suppress parts of the original? There is a difference between adjusting a book to the customs of the respective country in the interests of better comprehension, and showing such a disregard for the contents that outright distortion of the original results.
Translation theory distinguishes two methods of adaptation, the first of which is called global adaptation and is determined by a total change in the function of the Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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53 ST. The second one, local adaptation is the one employed in ChL. It is limited to certain sections in order to deal with specific differences between the language or culture of the ST and that of the TT (Bastin 1997:7).
Scholars distinguish between permissible and non-permissible adaptations. Thus J ingo sanctions adaptation of ChL, if the theme of the book or the image being sent to the children is universal, and things very much in common with the children are being emphasized. Where, however, the originality of the culture is a feature of the original, he argues that adaptation diminishes the finished product (1988:12).
Similarly, Weinreich depicts two cases:
1. books which describe a local milieu with specific characteristics
2. books which above all aim to describe universal human conditions, where the outlines of the local milieu are blurred just because the book has to be not too specific, but universal
(1978:155)
While the first type of book focuses on cultural peculiarities and atmosphere, the second stresses universal human problems, leaving cultural aspects in the background. As a consequence, adaptation should only be allowed in the second case.
Stolt is in favour of rendering the original unaltered under all circumstances because it is of interest and educational value to the young readers. Interestingly, she does allow two types of changes, namely those of a religious or political nature (1978:134).
McElderry, an editor of ChL, also cites religion as a case where she feels it justified to make changes to a book. She also adapts details of dress, furniture, measurements and, sometimes, national habits. So, for instance,
a picture showing an American family buying a car was Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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54 changed in Iran to a rug-buying expedition to the bazaar or in the Urdu edition of a book which in its U.S. edition had a drawing showing a mother and father worrying about their children when reading an English-language newspaper story about an auto accident, the drawing was redone to show Pakistani parents reading the Urdu newspaper reporting an accident between a bicycle and a horse-drawn tonga
(1962:107)
Burns, British editor and translator, offers examples from her own experience of adaptations on account of religion, erring adults, bad manners in children and national pride. For the latter, she cites two examples
In a French childrens book, fights between the French and the English are the centre of the story. Needless to say it is always the French winning battles. When taking an English boy prisoner, he is portrayed as very timid and nearly always in tears. The English translation (The Other One), eventually, made him more of a rough type with a quick smile who - instead of sobbing in the dark answers back in a firm voice
Pouks Gang is a French story of gang warfare between children of foreign workers and French village children. The leader of the foreign children is a German boy, big, fat, cowardly and a bully. By changing his way of speaking and pronouncing, the hostility between these two gangs was weakened
(1962:82,82)
An interesting detail is that, when translating Pouks Gang into German, the Germans made only few adaptations to this book, as Burns found out later. Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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55 J ung describes four types of adaptation:
1. Vernderte Kommunikation der Charaktere 2. Vereinfachung und Reduzierung durch Auslassung 3. Sentimentalisierung durch Ausschmckung 4. Ideologisierung durch Ausschmckung 20 (1996:14)
She feels that, whereas the first two occur because of carelessness and disrespect on the part of the translator, the purpose of the last two is didactic and moralistic endeavour. She wonders what makes original books so special that children are allowed to read them without being helped by an interpreting translator and whether children would suffer any harm by reading the unadapted translation.
Two scholars who vehemently reject the idea of making changes to childrens books are Shavit and Klingberg. Shavits opinion is that changes to a book are neither minor nor insignificant and disapproves of them as a sign of non-appreciation. She draws a clear line between translation and any form of adaptation, the latter happening when a text is not commensurate with what is permitted or forbidden to children, or cannot be understood, as the translator believes, by the child (1981:174). She condemns, particularly, evaluative adaptations - those which are ideological - as having the sole aim of making the text an ideological instrument, sometimes through converting the ST to a completely new, autonomous text. An example she gives is the 19 th century translation of Robinson into Hebrew. The translator places emphasis on the values of the era of the J ewish Enlightenment, such as productivization(1981:177) so that in his version, instead of the children in the story simply sitting listening to their father telling Robinsons story (which itself had already been changed from the original by Campe), they are busy with some work.
Klingberg introduces the concept of degree of adaptation, to express the extent to which the characteristics of the young readers are taken into consideration. The
20 1. change in communication roles of the characters 2. simplification through deletion 3. sentimentalisation through embellishment 4. moralistic adjustment through embellishment Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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56 degree of adaptation should ideally be retained in the translation, so that the text does not change in terms of its level of difficulty or interest. However, TT readers have a different cultural background from that of the ST readers, so that the translator will have to alter the text to maintain the degree of adaptation in the translation. This change by the translator is called cultural context adaptation (1986:12).
2.5.1 Cultural Context Adaptation
Cultural context adaptation can cause a conflict in ChL in that, on the one hand, the ST degree of adaptation should be preserved but, on the other hand, this conflicts with the recognised aim of furthering international understanding. However, Klingberg emphasises that there is a difference between cultural context adaptation and the sort of adaptation which is carried out merely to achieve adjustment of the text to the moral values of the TT culture.
Klingberg cites nine forms of cultural context adaptation (1986:18): 1. added explanation 2. rewording 3. explanatory translation 4. explanation outside the text 5. substitution of an equivalent in the culture of the TL 6. substitution of a rough equivalent in the culture of the TL 7. simplification 8. deletion 9. localisation
Forms 1 to 4 convey culture specifics as closely to the original as possible but enabling the reader to understand the foreign elements. Forms 5 to 9 represent an adjustment of the culturally foreign to the TT culture to various degrees, forms 8 and 9 being quite large modifications.
Klingberg warns that cultural context adaptation should not be applied too often and believes that the ST must have absolute priority, pointing out how easy it can be to arbitrarily alter texts or passages. He distinguishes several categories of cultural Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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57 context adaptation, such as foreign languages in the ST, building and home furnishings, food, customs and practices, play and games, flora and fauna, names, or weights and measures.
The two forms, simplification and localisation, will be further discussed below.
2.5.1.1 Simplification
However good the story, if children cannot grasp the meaning of it, it means nothing to them. This requires simplification of the storys structure in a way that it becomes comprehensible to the young readers but retains its essence.
In order to illustrate this requirement, Tate gives the example of Scandinavian picture books which are translated into English. In Scandinavia children start school at the age of seven, in the UK at the age of four. So the difficulty is to bridge the age-gap because a story intended for a seven to eight year old in Scandinavia may well contain concepts a three/four/five year old cannot yet grasp (1990:80).
Bridging the gap entails omitting words, sentences and even whole passages. Characters are usually depicted less ambiguously - they are either good or bad but nothing in-between. So, for instance, in the Nursery Alice, which Carroll created for very young children in 1890, all the characters are simplified, Alice being a good girl without any bad thoughts who never argues or loses her temper.
There is no ambiguity, and reality and imagination are distinguished quite clearly. Again taking the example of Nursery Alice, Carrolls story is based upon a dream, and it is clearly stated that Alice is asleep. In the original version on the other hand, it is impossible to say whether everything happens in a dream or in reality; Alice is said to be sleepy which leaves the door open to either interpretation.
If a story has more than one level, those elements which do not directly contribute to the plot are eliminated leaving only one level of interpretation. This has been done to Tom Sawyer, for example, where the level of irony was taken out, just leaving a simple adventure story (translations by Tavyov (1911), Akavya (1940) and Pinhas Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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58 (1960) in Shavit 1981:176). What happened here was that the translators changed the relations between elements and functions, making the elements carry fewer functions (Shavit 1981:176).
2.5.1.2 Localisation
Localisation means transferring the whole text to a country, language or epoch which is more familiar to the TL reader. It is the most radical form of cultural context adaptation as the whole scene is moved.
In localisation, attention must be paid to the storyline and to the full consequences, or the reader will find some illogical elements, as has happened to one of the books by E. Blyton when translated into German. The story was localised to take place in a German village; but, inconsistencies arise when the village policeman plays darts at the inn instead of, say, skittles and the children come home in the afternoon to have tea - something totally unheard of in the German culture (Klingberg 1986:16).
Care must also be taken in localisation that illustrations still correspond to the altered text. A translation of Emil und die Detektive into French localised the story, using the names of French institutions and food, for instance (see also 2.6.4); however, the illustrations still show German words describing the scene (OSullivan 1991a:6).
Klingberg strongly advocates anti-localising, stressing the importance of letting the child readers learn about new cultures. The translator should, he says, retain all the information of the original as it is, in order to emphasise the fact that the story really takes place in a foreign country.
2.5.2 Sentimentalisation, Prettifying and Embellishments
Owing to an incorrect concept of childhood, adults frequently feel the need to prettify matter-of-fact texts as they feel that this would make them more suitable for children.
Sentimentalisation and prettifying are generally achieved by adding sentences or even whole passages but sometimes through single unqualified remarks. J ung Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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59 (1996:17) gives the example of Der Zauberer von Oos, a translation of The Wizard of Oz into German which has a sugary, ornamental style, unlike the down- to-earth original. So, for instance, in the original, Dorothy felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle - which becomes in German
das kleine Mdchen fhlte sich wie in einer Wiege. Es hockte mucksmuschenstill auf seinem Platz und wartete ab, wie es weitergehen wrde 21 .
Not only has the translator changed Dorothy to the diminutive form of das kleine Mdchen, she has also added the second sentence to embellish the scene. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothys dog Toto is spoken of as he; the German version prettifies him der kleine Kerl 22 .
The translator also seems to favour the creation of dramatic atmosphere, where it is not necessarily appropriate. Whereas in the English original Dorothy just thinks about what could have happened, the German text makes her think voller Angst, was wohl schon wieder geschehen sein knnte 23 .
Another form of embellishment is used to convey pedagogical, moral values, according to J ung. She states that, in Germany, there is an educational trend in ChL for children to be depicted as rebellious against their parents and she illustrates this by an example:
The English story Peace at Last ends with Mother Bear comforting her husband after a long sleepless night -Ill bring you a nice cup of tea. And she did. The German version, however, reads like this: Warte, ich bringe dir das Frhstck ans Bett. Und die Post! rief Baby Br. Oh nein! sagte Vater Br, als er
21 The little girl felt as if she were lying in a cradle. She sat quiet as a mouse in her place and waited for what would happen next 22 the little chap 23 full of fear of what might now have happened again Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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60 den Polizeistempel sah. Parksnder! rief Baby Br. Parksnder-Daddy! 24
(1996:18)
The whole of the last paragraph has been added by the translator and all it achieves is a change from a peaceful, friendly, family atmosphere into a spiteful, negative scene in which the child is portrayed as full of malicious joy towards his father.
2.5.3 Modernisation, Purification and Hidden Abridgement
All of these forms are, according to Klingberg, in conflict with the aim of furthering international understanding and are, in any case, not necessary. They are of dubious value as alterations to the original and are, therefore, unwelcome.
2.5.3.1 Modernisation
Modernizations are attempts to make the TT of more immediate interest to the presumptive readers by moving the time nearer to the present time or by exchanging details in the setting for more recent ones
Klingberg (1978:86)
In most cases, old-fashioned language is brought up-to-date, making the translated text easier to understand. However, it is debatable whether language should be adapted at all. Every writer has their own style and by adapting to the style of the writer, the translator gives the child a better understanding of other cultures and eras. It must however be borne in mind that this method will demand more effort on behalf of the child in order to absorb and understand the original language.
Modernisations are not only done to make the language of a text more comprehensible, but also to make the text itself more understandable. If details of the scene are changed to more recent ones, the story appears more interesting for a
24 J ust a minute, Ill bring you breakfast in bed. And the post! Baby bear shouted. O no! Father bear said when he saw the police stamp. Parking criminal! Baby bear shouted. Daddy is a parking criminal!
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61 younger generation who may have lost touch with the ideas and ideals of another time or culture.
Many translators claim that fairy tales are too cruel for todays youth and therefore modernise them in translation. Grimms fairy tales are no exception; Little Red Riding Hood has seen several changes. In some versions, the grandmother and the child are not eaten up by the wolf, or the wolf becomes frightened at the sight of the rifle and decides to leave the house before any harm can be done. In a Finnish version the wolf is even portrayed as a good helper of the grandmother and this book ends with a pleasant conversation at a cosy little table (Oittinen 1993:99). A modernisation of Snow White omits the evil stepmother totally and depicts Snow White as quite an ordinary little girl.
When a date is given in the original, translators might be tempted to shift it closer to the publishing date of the translated book, so as to make the book appear newer and, thus, more appealing to the buyers or readers.
2.5.3.2 Purification
Like modernisations, purifications are not necessary when translating ChL. They are merely done to get the TT in correspondence with the values of the readers, or rather with the values, or the supposed values, of adults (Klingberg 1978: 86). Sanitised versions are created mainly by deletions but also by additions. Not only are unsuitable words or scenes censored but even whole stories if adults disapprove of them. This protectionism has the effect of hindering children from gaining an understanding of the world around them. What has to be mentioned, however, is that children are quite familiar with, and even enjoy, offensive language and find nothing wrong with inappropriate scenes. Purification is only the result of adults trying to create a sham-world, suppressing all taboos like bad manners in children, adult faults, sex, violence, excretion and, also, contentious issues like politics, religion, racial discrimination or frightening events and objects.
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62 Rei believes that purifications have the status of falsifications of the original,
da der bersetzer oder sein Auftraggeber mit der zielsprachlichen Version Zwecke verfolgen, die der Autor selbst nicht im Auge hatte und von denen er sich mglicherweise sogar distanziert htte 25
(1971:105)
Therefore, it goes without saying that some sort of indication must be provided to make clear to the reader that the book has been revised or adapted.
The number of examples of purification in ChL is endless. A few are given below:
In chapter 20 of Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher finds the anatomy book of her teacher with naked figures in it. Most German translations suppressed every hint of nakedness. Similarly, the tinkling rear of J im disappeared - translators preferred to use less embarrassing expressions in order to avoid naming this part of the body (Petzold 1994:90).
Toury mentions a revised version of the Bechstein fairy tale Das Schlaraffenland by Freud, written for young children, which was later translated into Hebrew. Bechstein had originally reported about the opportunity in Schlaraffenland for husbands to replace wives who had become old and ugly, with young and beautiful women; this was, however, omitted from Freuds and the Hebrew version (1994:100).
In Swifts original of Gullivers Travels, Gulliver extinguishes fire by urinating on it. The Finnish translation (by A. Kupiainen) replaces Gullivers action by him scooping water with his big shoe from a nearby pond. Swift also describes Gulliver defecating; here, Kupiainen found a quick solution for dealing with this embarrassment and simply deleted the whole scene (Oittinen 1993:104).
25 as the translator or his commissioner have a specific aim in mind for their TL version which the author himself/herself did not have and from which s/he would possibly even have distanced himself/herself Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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63 Klingberg gives examples about erring adults being deleted from books. So, for instance, in a book called Pappa Pellerins Daughter most of the second chapter, which details a family background showing adults in a most unfavourable light, disappears completely from the translation. The censored details are the desertion of a family by the father, and the mother leaving her children too, so that they are raised by an old woman disapproved of in the village (1986:61).
The trend to modernise fairy tales has already been mentioned. In connection with this, a great number of taboo subjects have been deleted. Little Red Riding Hood is not allowed to take wine to her grandmother but instead has fruit, honey and milk in her basket. Or Snow Whites cheeks are not red as blood but red as an apple (Oittinen 1993:98).
Andersens fairy tales, when translated into English for the American book market, have been purified considerably, by the removal of everything remotely religious, racial or sexual. Glyn J ones, the translator, cites instances when even quasi-religious exclamations, such as Heaven preserve us, Dear God or Oh, heavens have been deleted. The little mermaid may not cover her hair and her breast with sea foam, but only her head; she remembers how the prince lay with his head on her shoulder instead of on her breast as in the original, and she is not permitted to have nice legs any more - simply legs. Also, every allusion of a racial nature disappeared. The colours white and black seemed to be too racially loaded. Black magic has to be bad magic or the tiny man in the flower (Thumbelina) is not white any more but pale (J ones 1992:18,19).
With respect to racial discrimination, Pinsent cites two books of E. Blyton which have been adapted to omit racist elements: Island of Adventure and the Noddy books. However, he regards these adaptations as justified and suspects that even Blyton herself would have appreciated these changes as this means that her books keep on selling and are thus available to continued generations (1997:62). As evidence for his statement, he quotes two authors - J ohns and Lofting - who made their own alterations once they recognised the potentially racist nature of material in their books. He is, however, concerned that there is often no indication that a Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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64 purification has taken place, other than the small print telling the reader that this is a revised edition.
Political correctness is a key issue today, but again - where should one draw the line? It is certainly not as easy as Klingberg suggests when he says that there are many books on the market and - if the values of an ST book do not correspond to the values of a potential TT country - the simplest way is not to translate the book, at all.
2.5.3.3 Hidden Abridgement (Abridgment)
Normally books are abridged when AdL is adapted to become ChL or when ChL is simplified and shortened. In general, attitudes towards abridgements are negative, as they are regarded as a sign of a lack of appreciation of children and because of disrespect for the rights of the author. If abridgements are necessary, they should be visible, as readers have a right to know which version they are reading, in what way the book has been abridged and who carries responsibility for the abridgement.
Shortened versions, without any statement that the story had been treated in that way, are called hidden abridgements - a procedure which is to be condemned because they result in falsification. Yet, as they are so common in ChL, translators may believe that they are permissible. Publishers have their reasons for favouring shortened versions, too, because they mean fewer pages which, again, means costs are cut.
If translators decide to abridge a story, they ought to take care of what changes they make because shortening the text can easily result in inconsistencies.
As Klingberg disapproves strongly of abridgements, he has some recommendations of how best to avoid problems if abridgement should prove essential:
1. No abridgement ought to be allowed which damages content or form.
2. If there is some reason for a shortening, whole chapters or passages should be deleted.
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65 3. If one wishes to delete within paragraphs, whole sentences ought to be cut out.
4. Under no circumstances should the authors style be altered.
5. Should one wish to shorten the average sentence length [...] sentences should be divided into two or more new ones. This would be much better than a deletion of words and content within sentences.
(1986:79)
2.5.4 Deletion and Addition
Both deletion and addition have their origin in the translators fear that children might not properly understand what is said in the story; thus, they either delete the passages in question or add explanations. It has been stated frequently that authors and translators must not underestimate childrens abilities and that children understand far more than adults generally believe. Nevertheless, adults often feel a need to patronise children and to make sure they do understand.
Perhaps too, translators want to take the opportunity to show off their own wit when adding bold explanations to the original text, which, they believe, the children will find funny or useful. The following example of the Mock Turtle Soup illustrates this point:
In the original Alice in Wonderland Alice is asked by the Queen if she has already seen the Mock Turtle. When Alice replies that she does not even know what a Mock Turtle is, the Queen answers that that is the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from and that Alice should go and speak to him personally. In one of the translations into German (in 1949), the translator, striving to find an explanation of why this animal is called a Mock Turtle, depicts Alice as a good German school girl, doing English at school, and,
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66 at the same time, takes the opportunity to give his readers a recipe for a Mockturtle-Suppe: Alice, in her second year of English, had already been told by her English teacher that turtle meant Schildkrte and mock meant nachgemacht. Therefore, a Mockturtle-Suppe had to be soup which had been prepared without using the meat of a Suppenschildkrte. Since all the girls at school were so thankful because they now knew what a Mock Turtle was, they gave their English teacher the nickname Mock Turtle. Then there follow precise details of which ingredients there are in a Mockturtle-Suppe and how to prepare it.
(OSullivan 1991a:6,8)
Another reason for deletions, other than concern for children, is that publishers have already set a limit on the number of pages for every book and, if the translator has exceeded this number, they will cut down the translation in order to keep their costs down. Responsible publishers will tend to discuss with the translator what to cut and how to do it; however, there have been cases when translators have not been informed at all and, later, they were surprised to see what had become of their work.
2.5.5 Mistranslation
Though not adaptations in the narrow sense, Klingberg cites mistranslations within his category of alterations to the ST, in order to complete the picture. Often, alterations are nothing but little flaws, not interfering with the comprehension of the story; but occasionally, they may have a major impact, if the mistake prevents understanding of the context or destroy the atmosphere. However, where is a line to be drawn between disastrous and harmless mistranslations? What exactly is meant by disastrous - disastrous for the reader? Or with respect to a lack of faithfulness to the ST?
An example of facts being wrongly rendered comes from Rei (1982:11) and concerns the German translation of the book Daddy-Long-Legs. She finds this Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Adaptation 2.5
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67 piece of work full of mistranslations, some minor, some of them, however, quite serious. While the original describes a Christmas scene and mentions Santa Claus, the German has Santa as Sankt Nikolaus, probably because of the similarity in the names - yet, in Germany, Sankt Nikolaus pays children a visit on the 6 December, which is a long way from Christmas Day.
Another translation problem is presented by the caption Its the early bird that catches the tub below a picture of J udy having a bath at 6 oclock in the morning. The German renders this as Nur der frhe Vogel erwischt die Badewanne 26 . This translation is only useful to readers who have a knowledge of English and can recognise the English proverb behind this sentence. Children, mostly lacking the necessary background knowledge, will grasp only the literal meaning of the sentence and will miss the joke behind this caption.
Mistranslations can also have negative effects on the description of communication or on the atmosphere of a book. Returning to the previously mentioned story of Mother Bear (J ung 1996:16) who brings her husband a nice cup of tea after a long sleepless night, the dialogue between these two goes:
Mother Bear: Did you sleep well? Father Bear: Not very well. Mother Bear: Never mind. Ill bring you a nice cup of tea.
The German turns the sympathetic never mind into an apathetic macht nichts which, in fact, suggests that she does not care.
Peter Kents 1973 German translation of Paddington lacks the respect and politeness which produces the charm and humour of the English original (J ung 1996:16). Paddington is treated quite roughly, at times and, whereas in the original people are apologetic towards him, there is no apology at all in German. Once he is even tugged into a shop instead of being asked in politely. Thus, the German version
26 Only the early bird catches the tub
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68 creates a totally different atmosphere, brusque and unfriendly, nothing like the intention of the British author.
Translators are human and it is very human to make mistakes, through lack of knowledge or momentary carelessness. However, it should be possible for translators to discover some of these mistakes when double-checking their work and, finally, it is the task of editors and publishers to detect and rectify the rest. There is no excuse for mistranslations.
2.6 Specific Translation Problems
There are numerous instances which require a decision in one direction or another and which, in consequence, determine the outcome of the translation in different ways. Because of constraints of space and time, it is not possible to deal with all of these aspects within this dissertation. However, some of the more frequent ones will be discussed in the following sections.
2.6.1 Metalinguistic Procedures
A knowledge of other cultures cannot be assumed of children as it can in the case of adults. It has been shown that, for this reason, translators have to make individual decisions for each book as to whether child readers can be expected to cope with the amount of foreignness or whether they have to adapt somehow. In the case of a decision against localisation (i.e. some elements in the book will remain foreign), translators have several methods available to them to offer explanations for better comprehension of the text.
Explanations within the text, short remarks or additional information about foreign terms or words, pronunciation aids, maps, glossaries, footnotes, explanations about cultural context, habits and customs in prefaces or epilogues, ... all of these are useful and will help the child to understand.
Though useful, too many reading aids can interrupt the flow and children may find it hard to stay focused on the content. It must not be forgotten that they can cope with a Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
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69 certain amount which is unknown to them, when they are thrilled by the story and want to carry on reading.
Weinreich suggests that children should consult lexica or encyclopaedia themselves to obtain meanings and information an opinion, which inspires hefty opposition from some scholars. Rei calls his attitude unworldly, arguing that children will find this too strenuous and will rather lay aside the book (1982:12). Similarly, Neuman asks her readers to consider that this requires possession of expensive reference books which only reasonably well-off parents concerned with the education of their offspring will own (1979:122).
Metalinguistic information should be given inside the book and not on the flap because this can easily be torn or lost.
Whatever view is taken it is still the translators responsibility to estimate how much explanation the readers of each individual book will need and what type of information is best used.
2.6.2 Prototype Theory
Given childrens imperfect knowledge of cultural peculiarities, prototypical specifics may be worth considering. To help understand the functions of Prototype theory, a short introduction will be given.
Established in the 1970s by psychologist E. Rosch, the Theory of Prototypes and Basic-Level Categories is founded on the fact that human beings recognise distinctive features in objects and then combine the objects thus distinguished into certain categories.
Some categories have vague boundaries, where there is no one to one correspondence from language to language e.g. names of colours. For instance, the Welsh colour glas covers shades of green, blue and grey in England. Other categories have clear boundaries but, within these, the members constituting the categories are graded - e.g. birds: blackbird, pigeon, duck, ... (Lakoff 1987:56). The Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
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70 ranking of objects within such categories may vary from culture to culture. So according to the survey by Rosch, Americans regarded the robin as the best example of a bird. The fact that category members are not equally ranked but that some are viewed as better is important for Prototype theory.
Human beings form cognitive models for various facets of their lives. Between cultures these models are different, with their specific prototypes conditioned by sociocultural factors (Snell-Hornby 1993:106). So, for instance, what one culture sees as the best representative of a category, another culture will find wrong and reject.
The cognitive models of each particular society are expressed in the language of that society and may end up by being written down. It is therefore vital for translators to understand the cognitive models both of the SC and SL, and of the TC and TL.
As has been proven by Roschs research, children already have the ability to categorise, although they still have different categories to adults. When very young, they do not yet know about culturally significant attributes and they will tend to assign attributes to items which they feel form a logical unity. In the course of time, however, the ability to understand cultural significance will develop.
So, in translating ChL, one approach is to substitute a particular prototype of the SL with another prototype in the TL, rather than just using the lexical equivalent. This procedure may help children in forming an idea of prototypes in their own culture. Also, a TL prototype will sound more familiar to children and, hence, will be more acceptable to them. Especially with younger children, prototypes in their own language will reinforce the atmosphere of the ST message. In general, this method of replacing individual elements may be more desirable if it means that the adaptation and revisions of the whole text can be avoided. Nevertheless, the older child readers and the more settled their cultural awareness, the more the translator can consider introducing foreign prototypes. This will give the children a wider understanding of the way other peoples think and will help bring cultures closer together. Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
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71 2.6.3 Language
In section 1.4, readability, the ability of children to comprehend and, in connection with this, a suitable language have been discussed. In the following, some views will be given on the practical side of translating, and advice will be given on problems regularly encountered in translation work.
Matsunos advice is to choose exact words from the native language [TL]; however, the younger the children are, the more difficult it is to find the exact words for them within their vocabulary (1988:20). Clark agrees on the right choice of words; yet, she emphasises ensuring that words are used accurately and warns of restricting the vocabulary (1993:69).
Much concern is given to the question of dialects, slang and standard language and the question of when it is appropriate to use them. Dialects refer to the language spoken in a certain region within a country; sociolects refer to the different languages of the various groups and classes within a society. Both of them are normally restricted to dialogues. The rendering of dialogues in ChL is of prime importance because they have to sound lively and witty. However, dialect and sociolect fix literary characters in a certain geographical and social environment.
Pinning protagonists down with an actual sociolect or dialect can cause conflict; if, for example, the scene has not been localised to the TL country but the main characters speak the TL countrys dialect/sociolect, an unrealistic effect is created for the readers. Also, which dialect would be best to assign to a German hero in an English translation: should s/he speak Glaswegian or Liverpuddlian - or perhaps a dialect of the South-West? Use of any dialect is only rarely effective and it takes away part of the foreign atmosphere inherent in a foreign childrens book. In contrast, deciding in favour of standard language will change the tone of the book, too. In order to avoid such conflicts (What is this man from Cologne doing speaking broad Yorkshire?), Bell tends to favour some kind of colloquial idiom rather than applying the extremes of standard language and dialect (1986:18,19).
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72 Because of financial considerations, translators and publishers also have to take into account the question of where their total readership will be located and, therefore, must avoid linking a protagonists language too closely to one specific area. Too restricted a locality will result in a smaller circulation for the book and, thus, financial loss. The problematic effects of making a language too Austrian, too Swiss (for the German book market) or, similarly, too Scottish, too English (for instance for the Anglo-American book market) has already been pointed out (see section 2.2.2). It has to be noted that, having made a decision on the type of language to use, it is the publishers task to choose an appropriate translator since not every translator has command of every dialect.
Not only should translators be aware of the significance of dialects/sociolects, they should also consider the importance of juvenile language, which poses a problem particularly inherent in ChL. Children, of course, like it when their heroes speak their language. Nevertheless, juvenile language is subject to rapid change; expressions which are fashionable today may be dated tomorrow. If used too abundantly, fashion words will restrict the life-span of a book on the market. Bell sees this problem as unavoidable because at the time of translating one cant by definition see what will date, or one would avoid it (1986:25). On the other hand, there might not be reason to worry too much, because childrens books usually have a short life span.
Generally, intermediary groups have a large influence on the translation of strong and fashionable juvenile language; translators and publishers will always ensure that not too much of this kind of language is used. Rather than being a restricting factor, Kapoun sees an advantage in using such language, in that these books will appeal to readers (including new readers) and there will be an increasing tendency to buy the books. Translators should not hesitate too much because, after all, they deal with language and language is alive and tends to undergo changes (1994:21).
Finally, it is the translators task to decide the type of language they will use for each individual book - however, having made a decision in favour of one of them, they must be consistent during their whole work. Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
73 There are several other areas with regard to language - such as rhyme, wordplay, humour, punctuation, dialogues or acoustic language - but to go into detail about each of them is unfortunately beyond the scope of this dissertation.
2.6.4 Illustrations
Although this is not always realised, illustrations are closely linked to, and indeed form part of, a translation. As texts communicate through words, pictures communicate visually, and in a childrens book, the two interact.
Through pictures, children learn about their surroundings and the world. When children are read to, pictures help them to imagine the individual characters, the scenery, etc. Through pictures, they learn about contexts in the text when reading on their own; through pictures, their imagination develops; through pictures, they are given incentives to continue with their reading (although, as mentioned above, there are voices arguing the opposite; see section 1.4).
Optimally, author/translator and artist complement each other and the style of the text corresponds with the style of the illustrations in a book. This means that, in translating a book, translators must take into consideration the illustrators interpretation, in order to avoid any inconsistencies between their text and the pictures. Oittinen writes about an instance when she read to her sons a translation of Alice. This version had the original illustrations, with one picture showing the blue caterpillar smoking his hookah. Unfortunately, the caterpillars colour in the translation had been changed to green and the text no longer functioned in the context of the illustrations (1993:108).
Thus, apart from the ST, translators also need to see the illustrations of the TT book to be able to produce a consistent translation. Here, either the original illustrations from the ST book can be taken into the new book or publishers may decide to commission new ones.
New illustrations can change the message of the ST and involve the principles of localisation and adaptation which - as in the case of text translation - can give reason Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
74 for criticism. An example of this has been given previously with Kstners Emil und die Detektive translated into French. Whereas for the English translation it had been decided to keep the original illustrations, the French wanted new ones which, apparently, had been done only half-heartedly and now showed many discrepancies (see also 2.5.1.2).
Another example, taken from Stolts publication, deals with the German translation Michel in der Suppenschssel, based on an Astrid Lindgren book. Although the artist has taken care not to create inconsistencies with the text, his pictures are in contradiction with the style of the book. The whole character of the book has been altered and the reader is thrown back and forth like a ball between the world as it is depicted in the text and the world of the illustrator (1978:144). Instead of showing the powerful peasant milieu with clear lines, he portrays a prettified bourgeois small-town milieu with ladies with curly hair, ruffled aprons and heeled boots and with men with black moustaches who look more of a Southern type than Swedish. Hence, close co-operation between the translator and the illustrator is necessary to align the message of the text with that of the illustrations.
Frequently, translators will find the contents of an ST conveyed primarily through its pictures, rather than through direct expression in the text. In this case, they have to decide whether they want to go along with this method or whether they want to add something to the translated text and if so, what and how much.
Another point to consider is the allocation of text to pages which already have a set order of illustrations. This problem has arisen especially since co-productions have become more and more popular (see sections 2.4.3; 3.2.2.2; 4.3). Publishers of two or more countries agree to produce the same books with exactly the same pre-printed pictures, around which the individual countries have to place their translations. Mostly, the arrangement of the ST book will be decisive and space has to be filled with the right amount of words; this is even more drastic in the case of comics. In the main, translators have the problem of cutting down the words; however, sometimes the opposite may happen, too. Bell describes an instance when she had to translate a Grimm fairy tale (Snow White) from J apanese into English, with pre-arranged Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
75 illustrations, around which she had to fit her text. Her problem then was that the J apanese ST was phenomenally long and the scene where the queen wishes for a child covered four doublespreads whereas the original German was just a few sentences long (1985b:141).
2.6.5 Names
As to the treatment of names, disagreement prevails in the literature. Kurultay is one of those advocating the approach of not localising names because they are representative of the cultural identity of the narration (1994:198). Bravo-Villasante (1978:48) partly agrees with him in the case of proper names; however, she advocates a change of names that might be difficult to pronounce. Yet, she does not name guidelines for how to determine levels of difficulty; so it is up to the translator again, to come to a decision. Of course, there are those who wish to see pronunciation aids for difficult foreign names, so they do not have to be localised (Stolt 1978:137). Some are in favour of leaving the foreign name but adjusting the spelling to TT conventions; some propose linking a change of difficult names to an age group (the younger the reader, the more changes to TT names); others are firmly in favour of the translation of descriptive names (e.g. Prinzessin Goldhaar) because they reveal a message necessary for understanding the text; while still more want to see change dependent on the degree of familiarity. The list seems endless.
Klingberg has solved the problem in his own way by attempting to categorise names and prescribing universally applicable norms for how to treat each category in translation (1986:43-53). Yet, the whole matter is still very subjective and it is for translators to make a decision about their mode.
This suggests that translators have to seek an acceptable solution for every individual case. It will be their task to investigate whether a film has already been made of the book and ensure that the same names for their characters are chosen. This was unfortunately not the case in the Netherlands, where Lindgrens Emil was introduced in a translation called Mikkel whereas a subsequent film returned to the name Emil. Book sellers were reduced to the use of tiny stickers to the books saying that Mikkel and Emil were the same boys (Stolt 1978:136). Various Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
76 translations of the Moomins into German had the same effect as, at one stage, a translator introduced different names for already familiar Moomin characters (Bode 1995:201).
Sometimes, translators have to be a little creative in their methods; A. Bell, when translating a folktale, decided to give up all the names and identify the people in the story by their trades instead (1985a:7).
It remains to be said that, as in the case of language, much depends on the translators and their own discretion; however, once a decision has been made, the translator should be consistent.
2.6.6 Booktitles
As they are, to some extent, connected to the issue of names, booktitles will be discussed only briefly. As regards content and style, they can be treated similarly to names and a translation faithful to the title of the ST book seems to be desirable.
However, with titles extra-linguistic aspects must be taken into account. An attractive title will act as an incentive to buy. Sensational titles will catch the eye of the potential buyer, inciting interest and making him/her take the book off the shelf. The importance of a good design for the cover has already been stressed (see 1.4); for a cover to be effective, however, it must create a desire to take a closer look.
From the standpoint of translation theory, improving a book title may be dubious; in practice, from the publishers point of view, a catchy and sensational title is most often what is wanted.
2.6.7 Grammar Points
The fact that different languages have different grammars, and the closer the language is related, the more similar the grammar will be, is a point which has been made adequately elsewhere and will not be re-examined here. Several theorists have formed theories of how to consider the grammar of the language pairs between which texts are translated. Rather than repeating these facts, the emphasis in this section Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
77 will be on three instances where translators speak of their experience with a certain point of grammar. The translation directions were from German into English in two cases, and from English into J apanese in the other.
2.6.7.1 Historic Present
The historic present is one example of what Bell calls delicate matters, meaning that they do not look like a major problem, at first, but nevertheless turn out to be problematic.
The problem with the historic present is, in Bells opinion, that once translators have started using it in a passage or a chapter they have to keep to it. It is not possible to leap nimbly from historic present to past and back as a narrative method (1986:17).
Bell characterises the historic present as an unusual exciting tense, suitable for literary moments when immediacy has to be expressed. However, to her, it seems more a tense for the stylist, not an everyday one, and she is therefore careful how to use it in ChL. Even if passages or chapters in her STs are written in the historic present, she is hesitant to employ it too frequently.
An example of when she found it appropriate was in the book So long, Grandpa, a story in which a boy has to cope with his grandfather being seriously ill and, finally, dying. In this book, Bell found the historic present in English suitable for showing how the boys thoughts and reactions developed while his grandfathers illness progressed (1986:18).
In another example (The Long J ourney of Lukas B), again translated into English, the plot evolves partly on a boat crossing the Atlantic. Here, although the character of the sailmaker of the original speaks standard German, Bell decided to translate his speech into the historic present. She made this decision after trying ordinary Standard English, only to discover it did not sound right. Also she felt she could not let him speak in one of the dialects. So, she used the historic present, assigning him traits of an uneducated, sly, old sailor (1986:18). Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
78 2.6.7.2 Grammatical Gender
Nouns of certain languages are allocated articles or special endings which, automatically, define these nouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. This can be an advantage to translators because they do not have to think about which genders they should assign to certain characters in the story. In English, if an animal, for instance, has been given human characteristics, speech or some other importance in the story, a pronoun that indicates gender is required rather than the impersonal it. This is a key issue, especially in ChL, as animals or objects are personified fairly frequently.
Whereas Germans, for instance, think of the sun as she and of the moon as he and even express these genders grammatically, the English speak of them both as it but imagine the genders reversed, thus the sun as he, the moon as she. What now does a translator do, if s/he has to translate a fairy tale from German into English with illustrations of a masculine moon and a round, motherly, very feminine sun?
Bell had to translate several fairy tales with animal protagonists and she clearly describes her thoughts when she had to choose a pronoun for the English version which, in the SL German, had been chosen automatically by grammar. Sometimes, of course, it was not a problem, as the context made the animals biological sex clear (e.g. a cat has kittens which makes her feminine - another cat is a king which makes him masculine). Another time, conventions prevailed and the dog was made he and the cat she.
Yet, there were occasions when she had to make her own choice. Here, she would use what felt right to her. Often she was influenced by the grammatical gender of the ST; often, as she admits, she could not avoid sexist undertones which in the SL one could, because of the grammatical gender. If an animal showed characteristics that Bell thought of it as being more female, she would make this animal a she, and vice versa; or if there are two protagonists in a story, the hero would be made masculine whereas the subordinate would be feminine to counterbalance it. In any case, Bell is of the opinion that using the personal pronouns he or she in a genderless language puts more emphasis on the human side of animals or objects Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Specific Translation Problems 2.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
79 which is not present in the original and makes a much more definite statement (1986:21,22,23).
A similar tone is struck by OSullivan, reporting about a translation of Winnie the Pooh into German. In the English ST, it had been assumed that all the animals are masculine, apart from Kanga, representing the caring mother (but even she had originally been portrayed as being masculine). With German, determining its nouns by articles, some animals automatically changed their gender. This gives the story another atmosphere and an essential change to the original which, particularly in the case of Owl, spoils the effect. In English, Owl is schoolmasterish, self-important and a know-all, which in German is lost (1994:142).
2.6.7.3 Honorific Language
Slight echoes can already be found in European languages using polite and familiar forms for you - the German Sie or du or the Spanish Usted or t. However, this problem becomes more serious when translating into J apanese.
As Inokuma describes, there are several pronouns, the usage of which depends on the standpoint of being a speaker, listener or third person. Also, to use the appropriate pronoun, the nature of the human relationship in the society has to be considered, i.e. friendship between two men, two women, a man and a woman, or friends of different ages, work situations, parent and child, and so on.
Japanese usage requires the choice of a certain level of honorific language and polite expression for each specific relationship between the principals. And usage is further complicated by special vocabularies for women, men, children, and persons of the older generations
(1993:7)
It is very obvious that this can constitute a problem for translators because they have to try to read out of the ST all the information they need for their translation, which is not expressed explicitly in the original because it is not necessary. However, if these pronouns and honorifics are used incorrectly, the J apanese reader can come to a Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Non-Fiction 2.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
80 totally different understanding of the story and it can even lead to distortion of the story.
Inokuma illustrates the difficulties which can arise by the example of Kizzy, a gipsy girl who, in the course of the story, is adopted by a wealthy couple and changes into a respectable little girl. While in English these changes occur slowly and cannot be identified at every stage, J apanese has to express these various stages through its way of speech. Thus, the translator has to make a choice of how long to keep her uncultivated and at which times to let her take another step in her development.
Not only have J apanese translators to be careful not to change the meaning of the SL text, they also have to avoid creating prejudices against characters, which can easily happen because of the way J apanese grammar works.
2.7 Translation of Childrens Non-Fiction
Not much attention is paid to non-fiction in the literature dealing with translating ChL, although its market share is quite high.
For obvious reasons, translators dealing with non-fiction will face different problems from those dealing with fiction. Their translations will not have to show the stylistical perfection of, for instance, a novel but the subject areas will demand a lot from the translators. Non-fiction has the task to inform and report clearly; it comprises books about technical progress, methods and results of research and about building and making things oneself (Bastelbcher). Translators may find they are unfamiliar with the topics of their translation. This means they will have to make investigations, consulting experts or libraries, all of which takes time (but may not be appreciated in the form of better payment for the time spent). They may have to process their ST, if it has difficult contents in a technical subject for their young audience, trying to make it less complicated and easier to understand. As they cannot resort to the technical language adults would use, this may be a difficult undertaking. However, this might be one of the reasons why a number of parents buy non-fiction for their children; since the language is simpler and correlations are depicted more Translation of Childrens Literature 2 Translation of Childrens Non-Fiction 2.7
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
81 clearly, it is easier for adults, too, and does not need much thought to understand scientific developments and to stay up-to-date with technical progress.
For younger children, illustrations will be more prevalent, which may lead to problems with the layout - as has been pointed out above (see 2.6.4).
Mller warns of mixing languages, such as using anglicisms alternating with German terms when translating from English, which, in the case of non-fiction, is the major translation direction. She also emphasises comprehensibility of language, acknowledging the difference in regional terms within one and the same language (see also 2.6.3). A stumbling block, in her view, are mistranslations of technical terms. As an example of false friends she mentions translating the word penguin from German into French
North Pole: German: Alk - French: pingouin South Pole: German: Pinguin - French: manchot If the translator does not pay attention here, animals from the South Pole may find themselves transferred to the North Pole
(1993:35)
She gives another example of serious mistranslation in which the translator - in a translation from Scandinavian into German - repeatedly uses the word Skope though it does not exist in the German language. Apparently, after having translated microscopes, kaleidoscopes and other optical devices, s/he had been misled into seeing Skope as the genus term for all these instruments (1993:36).
So, translating non-fiction has a different main focus from fiction, with translators requiring the necessary factual and pedagogical knowledge to adjust technical SL texts into simple, and yet interesting, TL texts. Current Situation 3 Consumer Side 3.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
82 3 Current Situation
This chapter presents an overview of the present day situation of ChL and its translation; in particular, it examines the consumer side (children and adolescents), the supply side (publishing houses) and market mechanisms. Finally, the role of Britain in the international childrens book market will be investigated.
Ideally, a healthy childrens book market is based on good national literature enriched with translations to open up new worlds to children. How does this relate to the mass produced ChL which is on offer in supermarkets, kiosks or self-service shops? According to Knnemann, about 80 per cent of all picture books are bought in such institutions and not in conventional bookshops (1979:296). Apart from the growing number of low-quality books and comics, questions arise about the influence of the mass media and electronic media and their influence on ChL; childrens psychologists and pedagogues are concerned over an increasing lack of literacy in children.
These alarming signs are accompanied by the governments cost-cutting policies and their re-organisation of public spending, which affect the book industry, as well as the decreasing influence of institutions (such as of the libraries) on publishers decisions of what to produce. All of these factors contribute to a climate which is detrimental to the interests of children and their situation.
3.1 Consumer Side
Living in the era of information technology, children today have a wider knowledge than children of 50 years ago. This knowledge, however, is not very balanced but is limited to facts about the world around them. Also, in general, parents are financially better off and are able to offer their children more, in a material sense, than half a century or even 20 years ago. Thus, while still at an early age, many children will have visited parts of the world and seen other cultures about which adults themselves could formerly only dream. Thus, Schildts vision of 1962 the world can come to Current Situation 3 Consumer Side 3.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
83 the child through books and so he can start exploring (1962:28) has become out- dated. Everything indicates that the situation for children has changed for the better. Or has it?
Generally, it appears that the difference between childhood and adulthood is becoming less distinct. Postman (in Baumgrtner 1985:680) speaks of the fact that childhood is disappearing. A new childhood image is growing in modern western societies; in this concept of childhood, children have to function like adults and no longer have room for their childhood worries and longings. Children and adults have more and more in common. They share their knowledge of computers; they will watch the same TV programmes; when father goes to watch a football match, his son will join him.
Consumer society leaves its mark, too. While still young, children are drawn into the world of consumerism, wearing designer clothes or competing with class-mates over the latest style of trainers, sunglasses or even pencil-cases. A little older, they open their youth bank account which gives them the adult freedom of spending, becoming overdrawn and getting small loans all of which turn them into fully fledged members of a modern society.
Because of the wealth of stimuli around them, childrens intellectual knowledge has improved. At the end of the 1970s, Oksaar reports a study involving 6-year-olds, testing them on the size of their vocabulary. The results showed a bigger vocabulary than would have been expected across all social classes. However, it was strongly interspersed with words and phrases which obviously originated from TV, such as words connected with violence, advertising slogans or words indicating bias, all used uncritically (1978:102). Simultaneously, childrens emotions and experiences are impoverished by their modern lifestyle which may later result in a deficit in their conceptual world as adults. Weinreich names two types of experience that children have:
1. Primary experiences are those which the child himself has had. They are based on the childs own
Current Situation 3 Consumer Side 3.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
84 experiences and are subsequently built into and have influenced the total idea-world of the child. 2. Secondary experiences are those which the child has mainly had through media such as TV or books. These experiences are also built into and have influenced the total idea-world of the child.
(1978:147)
In western countries, which are characterised by industrialisation and increasing urbanisation, childrens opportunities for primary experiences are diminishing. Becoming more isolated, they take their main (secondary) experiences from such things as watching TV, computer games and books. These books are, to an increasing extent, non-fiction, concentrating only on a very small part of reality and putting emphasis on the technological side of life. However, children cannot relate the information given in these books directly to their everyday lives. How, then, do children internalise these ideas? (see also 3.2.2.2).
Some countries, mainly the German-speaking ones, have started to adjust their ChL to this new notion of childhood. By eliminating features like well-behaved children and never-erring adults they feel trendy, not pressurising their children anymore with their moral ideas. Yet, the new ChL has the same moralistic structure; all they did was to change the role models. Girls are now depicted as smart and technically skilled; children are encouraged to protest against their parents; they have many friends from immigrant and other foreign families; mothers are no longer simply housewives but career women, who can nevertheless cope easily with both children and household, whereas men are shown as housemen with endless time for their children.
One new development is escapism, which researchers put down to the deprivations of a poor lifestyle. They have found children and adolescents shutting their eyes to reality, escaping into a world of fantasy. From science fiction to adventure stories leading back into the past - they are all devoured by the young. Another escape is taking to non-canonised literature, i.e. popular fiction, comics and magazines. Here, children can let off steam, be themselves, read stories for the sake of the stories and Current Situation 3 Consumer Side 3.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
85 not to be improved in any way. This kind of literature - whether horror, romance, mysteries or humour -takes the side of the children, is subversive, satirizes pompous adults (Pinsent 1997:58). This literature is carnivalesque which Zipes describes as
Breaking of the norms of official speech, [...] mocking and challenging authoritative figures and structures of the adult world [...] and some of the (often traditionally male) values of society [...]; allowing a significant space for what Bakhtin termed the material bodily principle
(1992:122)
Adults, in general, disapprove of such low quality reading and express concern over a decline in literacy among children. Claiming that this type of literature is ephemeral entertainment - which means quickly read and easily forgotten - they forget that they themselves probably read trivia like this when they were young. Pinsent argues, in favour of pop literature, that it demands different kinds of reading skills which may be more in tune with a computer-literate age; also, it helps the children to feel part of a group, gives them relaxation and, something that is often forgotten, can encourage reading among those who otherwise might not read at all.
Anrich (1979:359) sees a danger in this conscious divergence from reality and calls for an emancipatory literature. With this demand, he is in accordance with Kurultay (see section 2.3.2). Both place emphasis on a conscious, critical look at ones own personality and want to make children think actively about their own situation.
Following on from this new childhood image, a new concept of adolescence has arisen, which Baumgrtner refers to as lost childhood, endless adolescence. In this he is quoting Ziehe who speaks of postponing the end of adolescence as long as possible because of a refusal to identify with the adult world and to accept the corresponding commitments (1985:680). These changes led to new trends in juvenile literature and in juvenile reading behaviour. Far into the 1960s, adolescent literature was understood as being at the same level as ChL. Public libraries had a strict Current Situation 3 Consumer Side 3.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
86 division between childrens and adults sections. From a certain age onwards and because of their personal perceptions of themselves as little adults, juveniles began to reject literature for children. As a result of not yet being allowed in the adults sector, they would rather stop reading than condescend to read childish literature.
Characteristic of the new concept of adolescence were books aimed particularly at juveniles which were, however, written in a way that appealed to adults too. These books, subsequently, found entry to either library section, leading to a loosening of the barriers between adult and childrens sections. These young adult novels concentrated on difficulties juveniles experienced in growing up. Falschlehner (1988:57) uses the name novel of initiation - as found in the Anglo-American literature - describing them as books which deal with the loss of childhood, the crises of puberty and coming of age, narrated from a juvenile perspective. Their main aim is to take adolescence seriously, yet they are aimed at both adults and adolescents.
Krner denies that the status of adolescence in the conventional sense exists any longer. He claims that, nowadays there are only children and adults with a jeans generation in-between, which begins somewhere around the age of 12 and ends somewhere after graduating from university and working for a few years. Thus, the so-called jeans literature (Baumgrtner 1985:682; Falschlehner 1988:50,53) is directed at people between the ages of 12 and 30, marking the gap between books written for children and adults. On the one hand, this clearly expresses the trend of adolescence towards adulthood; but on the other hand, it also shows the reluctance of young adults to acknowledge their newly adopted status and their attempt to prolong their juvenile phase.
Baumgrtner acknowledges the escapist trend also in the juvenile part of literature, comprising adventure and fantasy novels. This trend started with Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings and, since then, has consistently increased, providing a way for young people to leave behind a rationalised world which is less and less comprehensible and which seems constantly to be threatened by catastrophes.
Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
87 There is an argument that the decline in juvenile literature as such was an early indicator of the disappearance of the medium of the book in general, owing to overwhelming competition from electronic media. This development will have certain consequences, the first signs of which can already be seen - a decline in the frequency of interaction within families, the abandonment of contacts with friends, loss of reality, isolation and passivity. The effects that this development is having on children have also started to show clearly, namely over-stimulation, atrophy in creativity and initiative, increase of aggression and anxiousness and adoption of consumer behaviour (Kadelbach in Baumgrtner 1985:686).
Whatever view one has, the new image of childhood and the extension of the age of adolescence connected with the broadening of AdL certainly marks the beginning of a trend. These changes will continue to have significant effects on the book market and beyond, now and well into the future.
3.2 Suppl y Side
3.2.1 Translators
As has already been stated, translators hold a weak position in the chain of supply. In general, they do not receive the recognition they deserve; on the contrary, they work under financially and socially disadvantageous conditions. Their contracts frequently contain clauses which may only be changed by negotiation, if at all, such as the passing over of copyright in the translation to the publisher from the moment the translation is handed in or working under time pressure because of tight deadlines. Their position is further weakened by the likely promise of the publisher to the author to translate as accurately as possible which makes their translation second- rate.
Between 1988 and 1989, P. Schmitt conducted a survey (1990:97-106) amongst translators in Germany, based on statistical material from all institutions dealing in some way with the field of translation. Although concerned only with the situation in Germany, his findings may be representative for other European countries, having Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
88 similar social and economic structures. Some data arising from his survey are portrayed below: The second-largest group of translators are freelance (34 %) (those employed by Industry are in the lead with 46%) 74 % of all translators are female Women are generally paid less than men, especially as freelance translators Compared with other branches of translation, literary translators are such a small proportion that the figure given for the occupation is insignificant Freelance translators are required to have the second-fastest translation speed (only overtaken by those working in translation offices) The knowledge of more exotic languages does not necessarily imply better job opportunities (English is one of the main languages for Europe, making up the lingua franca in meetings and conferences)
Given the statistics above and the inferior status of ChL, it is likely that the situation for translators of ChL is generally even worse. Firstly, it may be assumed that a large proportion of translators of ChL are probably women who are, in general, paid less anyway according to Schmitts findings. This fact may go some way towards the poor status associated with translation of childrens books. Secondly, Schmitt found the second-largest group of translators to be freelancers, which accords with the fact that most translators of ChL work freelance; this, in turn, reinforces their insecure job position. It has also been mentioned in this dissertation that translators of ChL work under heavy time-pressure, because of publishers demands. This fact is confirmed by Schmitt finding that freelance translators are required to have the second-fastest translation speed.
3.2.2 Publishers
The primary aim of publishers, which dominates all their strategies, is to make a profit, as is the aim of every business. Because of economic problems in previous years and because governments and institutions were forced to reduce their spending, publishers are even more cautious in their choice of books and proceed only if they see a realistic chance of finding a market.
Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
89 Nowadays in ChL, popular literature is the most profitable area for publishers because it appeals to more children and there is a wide demand for it. Pop literature is highly commercialised and, thus, a number of publishing houses have specialised in this sector. Mass-market books are published cheaply in large editions and, if possible, matching T-shirts, toys or pencil-cases featuring the latest heroes are marketed simultaneously. Unfortunately, this makes it very difficult for high quality childrens books to compete in the market.
There is a common belief that translated books do not sell very well and that they cause more problems than benefit for the company. So one had better not become involved at all and anyway there are sufficient writers and artists right here in the country (McElderry 1962:101). However, J obe protests that publishers have inefficient or rather no marketing strategies (1996:526). This is a view with which Weitbrecht agrees when he stresses that the vast majority of publishing houses do not work in a product-oriented way, as is the case in other areas of industry. Marketing generally means tracking down a demand and then producing in order to satisfy it. Publishers, however, produce first - he claims - and then try to create a demand for their products (1979:287). There is an argument against Weitbrechts opinion, in that publishers do watch the market; in fact, they can no longer afford not to, in competitive economies, working under such tight conditions. Before buying rights they consider carefully the market situation and would rather drop a book if their experience tells them that there is not enough demand for it.
Another point is that translated literature is more expensive than national literature. Therefore, publishers give careful consideration to each individual book, whether they can or want to afford its translation. As a rule, they use translations only to complement their own list. Figures have shown (J obe 1996:519) that between 30 and 70 per cent of childrens books published in Europe are translations; however, the UK is an exception to these statistics, because here there are much fewer books translated, as will be illustrated later. Across the whole production of translated childrens books, the picture book sector represents the highest proportion. This can be put down to the trend of international co-productions which makes it more profitable to produce illustrated books (see 3.2.2.2). Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
90 Before a book is taken on for translation, it must be approved by an editor or some other person authorised by the publisher. The fact that editors may not speak the language a particular book is written in, questions their ability to judge it and puts another obstacle in the way of the translation. Publishers would rather reject a book than take a risk. Experience has shown that once a book appears in either English, German or French, it is easier to get a publisher for it in other foreign countries (Schildt 1962:32), as these are the main languages European editors can understand.
The childrens book market is characterised by two key events - international book fairs and co-productions - both of which have an immense influence on the production process.
3.2.2.1 Book Fairs
Book fairs are places where publishers buy and sell the rights to books. The worlds largest is the Frankfurter Buchmesse 27 which takes place each autumn. The genre of ChL, however, occupies only a tiny space there. The major fair, Fiera del Libro per Ragazzi 28 , is the one held in Bologna every spring. Here, publishers of childrens books from all over the world meet to seek out new trends in the sector and to do business.
Because it takes some time to scrutinise a new book, it has become customary to send galleys 29 of new titles and rough translations in advance to the book fair so that publishers have more time for studying and decision-making.
At fairs, not only are rights acquired but publishers also agree on conditions for co- production which has become wide practice in contemporary publishing and which means that a publisher has two or more editions printed at the same time in order to cut costs.
27 Frankfurt Book Fair 28 Childrens Book Fair 29 galley (also: galley proof): printed proof on a long slip of paper before it is divided into pages
Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
In spite of up-to-date printing techniques, publishing of illustrated books, particularly full colour books, has become very expensive. So, publishers have come to co- operate; they agree on text, pictures and manufacturing specifications of a title, which suit all the project participants, and then aim to produce a large number of copies. Cianciolo (1984:7) estimates that, in order to achieve a fairly reasonable retail price, production has to be somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 copies. This involves a joint print of all the coloured illustrations and photos in one country, after which the copies are sent out to the individual participating countries which will then insert their translated text. As text normally uses only one colour, this procedure is more affordable.
Through co-printing, production costs are shared and lowered; publishers must bear just one set of type-setting costs and one large print run. It has become possible to print and sell good books from abroad at low prices, something that no publisher could have undertaken on his own. All of these are decisive advantages, encouraging the publication of ChL and making it more international.
However, there are down-sides too. One of them is that the ideal unity of text and illustrations is abandoned, with the text alone being translated into another language. Another is related to lesser used language areas (see also 3.5). In these areas, only small numbers of copies are produced because of lesser demand. This means that production costs will be higher, which has an effect on the selling price of books. This is then way above what could normally be expected. As a consequence, nearly all books with multi-coloured printing that are available on the market in minority language areas have been produced by co-editing. This would seem to indicate that co-production works in favour of lesser used language areas; however, this may not be the case.
Ideally, one would expect co-productions to produce a situation like the following, in which the individual countries complement each other and contribute to a joined whole: Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
92
Instead, as pointed out by Weinreich (1978:152), a situation is created looking like this:
Different demands in various countries give rise to limitations as something that is allowed or possible in one country may not be in another. No country must be offended in any way, so everything specific to only one country is omitted.
Hence, co-editing results in anonymous, superficial books avoiding any taboo of any kind in any of the participating countries. For obvious reasons, the more countries taking part in the project, the blander the text and pictures are. Co-production is the enemy of all national peculiarities. Artists are required to draw an berallstrae 30
and Irgendwostadt 31 without any busses, letterboxes or particular house-types to avoid giving away a specific culture; there is hardly any writing within illustrations and, where there is, words such as Bar or City Shop will probably be used because they exist everywhere (Harranth in Binder 1984:6).
This shows that smaller, lesser used language countries are put at a disadvantage because they are not left with any other choice than co-printing in order to be cost- effective and to bring books on the market at fairly competitive prices.
30 Everywhere road 31 Anywhere town Current Situation 3 Supply Side 3.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
93 The development of co-production is going in the same direction as other highly technical branches of industry: financially strong businesses in the West co-operate with economically weaker countries, naturally at the cost of peripheral ones. Competition is rising; there is a trend towards monopolisation, and international syndicates are gaining a stronger hold on publishing activities. This can lead to the conclusion that the often-cited and highly praised international character of ChL is not so much applicable to the medium of the book itself but to the production process with all its economic mechanisms. The result is strong book sector centres, like New York, London and Moscow, all taking advantage of the low wage countries of the Third World and participating in their economic exploitation. Also, these peripheral countries find themselves forced to be content with ChL from the economically dominant countries, full of their ideologies (Becker 1978:35-37).
Co-production applies, mainly, to picture books. Rapidly rising expenses were and are to be seen in this sector because of the high cost of colour printing. Naturally, picture books could also be produced in black and white, which would keep the retail price down; however, they would not stand much chance in a market where colour pictures are usual and in a world where everything has to be better, more beautiful, more colourful and more fancy. Another reason why picture books are sold more successfully as co-production projects at book fairs is that they contain little text; publishers, therefore, can make their decision subject to the pictures. Making decisions with fiction takes longer, as the book has to be read first (possibly in the SL), then a report must be written judging the books quality and success in the TC, which all requires a great deal of effort on the part of the publisher. Fables and fairy tales are also produced in co-editions and, because of the amount of illustration, so is non-fiction. Non-fiction is safe to produce because it deals with universal topics and there is less danger of violating a countrys taboos. The general type of topic is cars, aeroplanes, ships, dinosaurs, kings or events that took place in the past - factual knowledge which will not do any harm to children. However, it will also not benefit them in their everyday lives - figures, numbers and facts may influence their secondary experiences, yet these books contribute nothing to their primary experiences; they are nothing but anonymous, unemotional and impersonal (see also section 3.1). Current Situation 3 Statistics 3.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
94 3.3 Statistics
The following section provides some statistical material found in the literature studied. Regrettably, it is not complete for every European country and for every year. Because of constraints of time for submitting this dissertation, it is not possible to acquire the missing data. Nevertheless, the reader will be given a good impression of the activity in the international book markets in the sphere of ChL.
Year
Nation % Translations of Total Publications % deriving from English * ST % deriving from Scandinavian ST % deriving from German ST 1956 Sweden 50 .6 66 .79 20 7 .6 1957 Sweden 51 63 .4 21.25 10 .6 1958 Sweden 49 67 .41 16.8 7 .1 1959 Sweden 46 61 .9 15 10 1960 Sweden 49 .3 1962 Denmark 60 58 41 1965-75 Sweden ~58 ~72 1982 Germany 26 63 1982 Austria 23 .56 >63 1980-89 Sweden ~50 ~75 1992 Austria 35 .5 57 1970-79 UK/US 3 -4 1991 UK 2 .4 1991 US <5 English * represents the whole of the Anglo-American language area Sources: Schildt M. (1962), Furuland L. (1978), Bredsdorff A. (1962), Steuer H. (1984), J obe R. (1987), J obe R. (1996), Sollat K. (1993), Hearne B. (1991)
Immediately, a distinct trend is noticeable. The business of translation is very one- sided, with the main translation direction being out of English (mainly from the United States, followed by Great Britain; and, to a much lesser extent, Australia and New Zealand). Whereas Britain and America depend mainly on their combined national literatures and hardly translate anything, the proportion of translations in the Current Situation 3 Statistics 3.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
95 other European countries is fairly high. Unfortunately, there are not sufficient data for the 1990s but it is unlikely that a reversal of this trend has taken place. Another fact is quite obvious from the table: not only do the individual states depend heavily on translation, a significantly high proportion of all books translated in these countries originates from Anglo-American sources. As this trend has developed globally over the last decades, some importance should be attached to it. Not only does it mean that Europe is flooded with English literature; conversely, the English-speaking countries do not seem to have an interest in literatures from cultures other than their own.
Andere Kulturen reprsentieren sich durch die Bcher, die fr ihre Kinder geschrieben worden sind; und weil das, was diese Bcher zu vermitteln haben, fr Kinder wichtig ist [...] 32
(Behrmann 1983:90)
In every relationship - to maintain a balance there should be giving and receiving in equal parts. So it is with the exchange of ChL from different cultures. At least, this is one of the stated aims of translation for children. However, small countries whose national boundaries also constitute their language boundaries publish a fairly large number of translations. Unmistakably, translations from English, especially from America, have taken the lead and Americanisation dominates Europe (even Great Britain).
It is worth taking a quick look at a country outside Europe which has been mentioned in this dissertation a few times. Like Great Britain, J apan is an island country and therefore relatively isolated. Like the British people, the J apanese only speak foreign languages to a limited extent. Azuma confirms that
except for a small proportion of Japanese people, comprehension of and conversation ability in foreign languages is still rather poor among the general public
(1988:21)
32 Other cultures represent themselves in the books written for their children; and since their contents are important for children ... Current Situation 3 Situation in Great Britain 3.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
96 The big difference, however, is that J apanese is not an international language. This fact puts J apan in line with European countries, in contrast to Britain. This is why in J apan there is a hightened awareness of the importance of translation, considerable interest in foreign countries and - it has to be said translation is for J apan, as J ingu states, a one way trade, and hardly any J apanese childrens books are translated into other languages.
3.4 Situation in Great Britain
What then creates this unwelcoming situation for translations from other countries in Great Britain? Why are there not enough committed publishers and why are the few committed ones relatively ineffective?
The following observations and notions are taken from two articles by Klaus Flugge, founder and directing manager of Andersen Press, one published in Times Educational Supplement (1993) and the other in The Bookseller (1994). Andersen Press, based in London, has a long-standing reputation for committing itself to translating childrens books from all over the world into English because there are excellent and well-written foreign books and English-speaking children should be given a chance to get to know them. Also, as Flugge believes, it is important for them to learn about other cultures and mentalities.
The childrens book market in Britain is economically in poor shape at the moment. In addition, considering the translation of childrens books, the Channel, or divide in Flugges terminology, separates Britain from the rest of Europe, with the traffic across it being one-way.
Flugge characterises the problems for the childrens book market as follows:
1. In the last 15 years, the paperback market has grown at the expense of the original hardback. The largest British bookselling chain turns down 90 per cent of all hardcover childrens fiction, the more expensive original paperbacks and bound picture books. Independent booksellers refuse to sell any new hardcover Current Situation 3 Situation in Great Britain 3.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
97 childrens fiction, at all. Owing to cuts in library spending, there is little money left for hardbacks in libraries and most of what is available is spent on picture books by British authors. Publishers can hardly justify hardback fiction any longer, as the sales of a title are often below 2,000 copies.
2. Without librarians, British childrens book publishing would be in an even more sorry state than is currently found. However, there is an increasing shortage of qualified childrens librarians, again because of the shortage of money. For this reason and because many parents and teachers are not prepared to spend time over a book with children, libraries tend to stock more books that can be enjoyed and understood by children on their own, such as ghost stories, crime and horror stories, classroom stories or humour. Also, linked in with this, sales of more demanding and sophisticated books have dropped considerably. In sharp contrast to other European countries, the amount of good ChL in British bookshops is rather limited. Elsewhere, according to Flugge, it is fairly common for childrens books to be bought as a present or simply for the enjoyment of adults, this is not so in Britain.
3. Flugge believes that books with a more poetic approach are not accepted in Britain, because, in his opinion, people here are afraid of their feelings (1994:20). Additionally, there is a dislike of anything unfamiliar. If names of authors and artists are identifiable as foreign, particularly if they are difficult to pronounce, sales tend to be poor. Frequently, fiction from abroad deals with difficult subjects which, in Britain, are seen as problems and the books then become problem books.
McRae (in J obe 1993:15) notices a xenophobic atmosphere taking over in this country. The British audience seems to prefer stories with a familiar background and reference points; they are quick to consider a childrens book as too foreign.
Many of the British childrens book publishers would be out of business, were they not able to export. This is also the case with Andersen Press which derives most of its turnover from foreign sales. In 1993, they had 42 titles scheduled for publication, Current Situation 3 Major and Lesser used Languages 3.5
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
98 of which only one was foreign. Since this one book, dealing with a handicapped boy, was perceived as a problem book, sales were expected to be low even before publication. Nevertheless, Flugge decided to translate and print it because he thought the topic of this book was valuable for British children. In 1994, Andersen Press did not list any foreign picture books at all.
In the years 1993 and 1994, Flugge expressed his disappointment about this situation but he did not see much hope for the future, and time proved him right. According to personal research, Penguin did not buy a single translation but only sold translation rights to other countries last year; McMillan published only one picture book from abroad, as did Andersen Press.
Does it matter? This is the question posed by Buss in his article Rates of Exchange (1994:II). He states, Britain has become more chauvinistic, culturally exclusive and less eager for her children to learn other languages. Also, the costs of paying translators and of purchasing translation rights have to be considered, together with a terror of foreign names, a dose of xenophobia and Britains particular resistance to anything that comes from the Continent. But again, does it matter? English speakers are less isolated from the rest of the world, there is no canon of essential texts that needs to be translated and the children are growing up as members of a global society with information technology available to them as means for mass entertainment and communication.
However, this situation has been sufficient reason for theorists to express their concern and to conduct studies illustrating the significant relation between languages spoken by minorities and those that are a global means of communication (as English has become) and the effects of this relationship on national literatures and on the status of its translated works.
3.5 Major and Lesser used Languages
The developments in the field of ChL described above do not come as a surprise. Generally, the overall trend has been that lesser used language areas are more and more dominated by translated literature. Current Situation 3 Polysystem Theory 3.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
99 Anderman (forthcoming) draws attention to the fact that the status of foreign fiction in English translation is low and the majority of publishers in English-speaking countries hesitate to commit themselves financially to the translation of foreign literature. Simultaneously, an atmosphere of ignorance towards other cultures and societies is prevalent. The situation in smaller language areas, however, is quite the opposite. People living in such communities are highly aware of the English culture and, generally, fiction originating from English-speaking nations does not take long to be translated.
Another observation is that English sets the standards of literary tradition to which fiction from different literary regions must adhere. This clearly makes English a strong, self-sufficient language which does not depend on translation of other literatures. As a consequence translated works maintain a peripheral position. A further characteristic of translated literature in English-speaking countries is its strong orientation towards the TC.
Theorists have tried to find explanations for this development and have formulated the concept of polysystems, illustrating functions and shifts of systems and subsystems within given cultures.
3.6 Pol ysystem Theory
Even-Zohar, an Israeli cultural theorist, defined his country as a lesser used language area, lacking a canon of literary works and depending heavily on translated texts. Also, its national literature is much influenced by major literatures, such as English, Russian and German.
Investigating how literature and translation function in various societies, Even-Zohar developed his theory of polysystems. A polysystem describes an entire network of correlated systems, whether literary or extraliterary, and covers all of the major and minor literary systems within a society.
Current Situation 3 Polysystem Theory 3.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
100 Every literary polysystem comprises a number of sub-systems which are arranged hierarchically; it is characterised by strong oppositions, such as primary (innovatory) models and secondary (conservative) models, canonised and non-canonised types of literature or positions closer to the centre of the system or closer to the periphery (representing stronger and weaker literatures). The closer to the periphery, the lower the cultural status of the subsystem within the whole system.
Polysystems are dynamic, unstable models because of the permanent fluctuation of their indigenous elements. Literary polysystems are not isolated systems but interrelate with other cultural systems, being embedded in the ideological and socio- economic structures of a society.
Translated literature makes up one element among many others; it may maintain any position within the system, either in the centre, representing a significant part of a countrys literature or remaining peripheral, having little influence. If translated literature takes a primary position, its status is high and new foreign elements are introduced into the TL literature which were not there before. As Even-Zohar states, this can be caused by three conditions
1. when a polysystem has not yet been crystallized, i.e. when its literature is young and in the process of being established
2. when a literature is either peripheral, or weak, or both
3. when there are turning points, crises, or literary vacuums in a literature
(1978:121)
The second case represents the situation in smaller nations, as has been illustrated above for most European countries. Their resources are limited, their literary tradition is weak and so they take peripheral positions within the hierarchy of European literatures. In such countries, translated literature becomes the main source of innovation.
Current Situation 3 Polysystem Theory 3.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
101 If translation holds a secondary, marginal position, it is peripheral within the polysystem; it has no influence but is in line with norms already established by a dominant type within a particular genre. Original writing, in contrast, will be strong and influential. Great Britain or America, as is clearly shown in the statistics above, are such countries.
In Polysystem theory, literature is studied in connection with social and economic forces, i.e. a text is not classified in isolation from its cultural context but
is always already involved in a multitude of relationships with other elements of other systems at both the center and margins of a cultural whole
(Gentzler 1993:125)
Translation is not perceived as a system in itself; translated literature is divided into various sub-systems, perhaps with one section maintaining a primary position while others remain more peripheral. ChL is one of the parts of the literary system. Its position in the literary polysystem is always peripheral with, as a rule, low cultural prestige. The translation of ChL, too, assumes a secondary, marginal position; childrens translators must rely on previously established norms. This is why translation for children is disregarded, liable to manipulation and why working conditions for translators are bad.
Shavit has further developed Even-Zohars theory and applied it to ChL. She has determined five characteristics distinguishing the sub-system of ChL from other sub- systems (1981:172-177):
1. Affiliation to existing models texts which have the form of an ST model, which does not exist in the TC, may be changed; these changes occur mainly by deleting elements, to adjust them to models which exist in the TC 2. Integrality of texts translators are allowed to manipulate the fullness of STs, in order to adapt them Current Situation 3 Polysystem Theory 3.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
102 either to a childs level of comprehension or to moral norms 3. Level of complexity of texts this involves simplification of texts; if a text consists of two or more levels (especially in ambivalent texts), it is simplified to only one level 4. Evaluative adaptation (ideological adaptation) texts are made a didactic instrument for transporting ideologies 5. Stylistic norms high literary style is desired; in ChL particularly for a didactic reason, to enrich the childrens vocabulary
She has identified the sub-systems of canonised and non-canonised AdL and ChL. From this, she continued to determine the relation between ChL and AdL. According to her findings, all ChL has a similar position to and behaves similarly to non- canonised AdL.
The Distribution of Power 4 What is Power? 4.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
103 4 The Distribution of Power 4.1 What is Power?
Power is defined by the amount of control one has over ones environment - by the freedom to do what one wants, the freedom not to conform to other peoples norms, the freedom to set the rules. It permits manipulation of others lives to suit one's own objectives.
In a capitalist economy, power often goes with money; in non-capitalist countries, "favours" and "privilege" make good substitutes for money, with the same end result. In the larger scope of the world economy, all trade involves money and hence creates opportunities for power. Publishers control market mechanisms; they are in a strong position because of their financial control, with money being their instrument of power. As individual businesses, they make the decisions over which authors will be published, which translators will be employed and how a book is to be translated. As a syndicate, they represent a joint force, dominating their home markets and, also, the markets of economically weaker countries.
One of the manifestations of power is asymmetrical relationships. The strong benefit more than the weak, especially where the weak depend on the strong and, thus, cannot break the relationship. An example of this asymmetry is peripheral cultures dependence on imported literature, in which the values of their own culture take second place to those of the stronger source text culture. As has been shown elsewhere, there are many countries in which the dominant culture is actually defined by Anglo-American norms and not by those native to the region (see 3.3; 3.4).
Another example of asymmetry is the relationship between parents and children. Being weak and inexperienced, children depend on adults to explain the world and how it works; adults can and do exploit this dependency in order to perpetuate their ideals and norms - in fact, to perpetuate their culture (see 1.6; 1.7; 1.9).
The Distribution of Power 4 Translators 4.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
104 Power, then, is the ability of the strong to take advantage of others and enforce their will upon them. Who, then, has power in the area of translated ChL and how is it wielded?
4.2 Translators
Those who appear to have the most power are translators. They produce the TT and would seem to have complete control over its content and form. They can decide how much of the SC should "shine through" and what should be adapted to the TC (see 2.4.1).
In the early days, translators felt obliged, to a greater or lesser degree, to be faithful to the ST, first translating word for word, then sense for sense. As time passed, the focus was shifted to the text as the unit of translation. Rei was the first proponent advocating the theory of text types (e.g. Mglichkeiten und Grenzen der bersetzungskritik (1971), in particular pp. 31-53; Text types, translation types and translation assessment in: Chesterman (1989)). Later she used her theory of text types in the translation of ChL (see Zur bersetzung von Kinder- und Jugendbchern - Theorie und Praxis in: Lebende Sprachen, 1982). However, the translators role was still subordinate and faithfulness was still an essential factor.
In the late 1970s, the functionalists (e.g. Vermeer, Hnig, Kumaul, Holz- Mnttari, Nord, also Rei) took a significantly different approach to translation. The purpose (Skopos) of the TT was regarded as the most important criterion in any translation. Die Dominante aller Translation ist der Zweck 33 (Rei and Vermeer 1984:96). They argued that the function of the translation depends on the expectations and needs of the TT readers whose role was taken into account to a larger degree than by previous models. According to Vermeer (1978:100,101), Skopos is dependent on the recipient or, as Nord explained (1997:12), the reader of the TT was regarded as one of the most important factors determining the
33 the purpose dominates all translation The Distribution of Power 4 Translators 4.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
105 purpose of a translation. A translation was seen as a cultural product and the process of translating as a culture-sensitive procedure (Vermeer 1994:10).
It is to the credit of the functionalists to have introduced a new perception of the TT which was no longer dependent on a sacred original (Hnig 1997:9) but was seen as ein eigenstndiger, vom Original unabhngiger Text 34 (Kaindl 1994:116,177). Skopos theory created a totally different environment for translators. They were assigned a new role the role of an expert - and were given more liberties to translate as they pleased as long as the appropriate message got across.
Released from the constraints of the ST, translators may appear a powerful factor in the process of translation. The total freedom of the translator is in reality, however, an illusion. A translation is normally performed as a commission - i.e. in exchange for money. Theoretically, translators could reject unwelcome commissions but in practice their low status and consequent low income make this impossible and he who pays the piper calls the tune. In matters of style, or where the norms of the TC might be violated, the person commissioning the translation has the last word. This can create barriers for translators, reducing their freedom of choice.
A further limiting factor has been observed by Even-Zohar in his Polysystem theory (see 3.6). Even-Zohar argues that in every translation situation, the implications of polysystemic positions must be taken into account, which makes the practice of translation subordinate to the polysystem. As ChL and its translation are only marginal within the literary polysystem, translators of ChL will find themselves having to obey the rules established in the culture and the society of the TT. However, even where the translators do feel completely free to translate, they will still colour the text according to their own opinions, even in ways of which they are unaware.
Another attitude which arose in the 19 th century is that of colonialism. This is the tendency for more "advanced" cultures (or those which see themselves as more
34 a text in its own right, not dependent on the ST
The Distribution of Power 4 Publishers 4.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
106 advanced) to try to "educate" people of other cultures. One well-known comment is the one made by Fitzgerald in 1851
It is an amusement to me to take what liberties I like with these Persians, who, (as I think) are not Poets enough to frighten one from such excursions, and who really do want a little Art to shape them
(Bassnett 1991:3)
Colonialism is an expression of perceived power, as shown by the asymmetry of the relationship, and ChL has sometimes been its target. So, for instance, Abel-Musgrave wrote in the preface to his translation of the J ungle Book in the year 1896:
Wenn ich es gewagt habe, [...] einige nderungen vorzunehmen, so geschah es in der Absicht, [...] die Ketten zu sprengen, die in Gestalt von Satzfgungen und Worten den Geist des Dichters zu fesseln suchten 35
(Harranth 1994:24)
Since for ChL, the source of most commissions is the publishing community, do publishers hold and wield the power?
4.3 Publishers
Publishers operate according to the strict demands of the economy. They select for translation books which they believe can be sold for a profit. In doing so, they must balance likely demand against estimated costs. Both demand and costs are therefore factors which constrain the publishers' choice (see 2.4.3).
The influence of cost can be seen in the increase in co-productions. Particularly in lesser used language countries, whose polysystemic structures emphasise imported literature, this can act as an important constraint on what is translated and how. The
35 Whenever I dared to [...] adapt the text, it was my intention to [...] to break the chains which seemed to constrain the authors spirit through sentence structures and words The Distribution of Power 4 Publishers 4.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
107 constraint is much larger for ChL than for AdL because of the greater use of illustrations in children's books - both fiction and non-fiction.
The structures for exchange of literature between countries are not equal, either; rather, they reflect the existing structures of global, economic power. A few, large centres (such as New York, Moscow and London) dominate the weaker, more peripheral countries under the guise of providing literature "for the benefit of the children" (see 3.2.2.2; 3.5; 3.6).
In an attempt to understand the mechanics of demand, theorists have categorised the market for ChL in many different ways. Most have agreed on a division between canonised and non-canonised literature - the former being that which is "approved" by society (i.e. by the TC) as being "good" for children and the latter being the remainder. This remainder, i.e. non-canonised literature, is then divided by some into "emancipatory" literature (see 2.3.2; 3.1; 4.4) - intended to provoke children into new patterns of thought which are not necessarily in accordance with society's norms - and simple popular literature. In general, canonised and emancipatory literature is bought for children (by adults), whereas pop literature is bought by children themselves.
However, demand is not only conditioned by the types of literature wanted but also by the types which are available. In lesser used language countries it is not uncommon to find a wide understanding of some other, more dominant culture. This can make it easier for texts which have not been adapted to the TC to find acceptance. This, in turn, means that publishers might view the translation as being easier and see a possibility to reduce costs - a further reason why such texts may be translated in preference to others.
Other media, such as films, can have an effect on demand, too. A children's book which is turned into a film or TV series can create interest in the original book, even if it has first to be translated. For example, the books "Heidi" and "Die Biene Maja" remained relatively unknown in German-speaking countries (with the exception of Heidi which is appreciated as a childrens book in Switzerland) until they appeared The Distribution of Power 4 Intermediary Groups 4.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
108 as a weekly series of J apanese cartoon on television. A similar phenomenon can be seen with major Disney cartoons, such as "Pocahontas".
The power of certain languages in publishing such as English or French must not be underestimated, either. Publishers tend to select material which they, themselves, can understand. In her article about lesser used languages in Europe, Vanderauwera discusses the status of Dutch literature. She maintains that, although from a lesser used language country, the quality of Dutch literature equals that of other European countries, and she cites Een dagje naar het strand by H. Heeresma as an outstanding book, highlighted by the fact that Polanski made it into a film - however, only after it had been translated into English (1985:211,212).
So, while they have some power in selecting material for translation, publishers are actually only responding to the twin issues of cost and demand. Who, then, creates the demand?
4.4 Intermediary Groups
Much of the literature intended for children is bought by parents, relatives, schools, libraries and so on. Collectively, these act as intermediaries between the publishers and the target audience - the children themselves. However, in choosing and buying the books they often have an agenda of their own - the development of the child into an acceptable member of adult society.
Parents usually have firm ideas of how they want their children to grow up and they use their control over the selection of literature as a tool to achieve their ends. Depending on their own personalities they may prefer canonised literature or emancipatory literature but, either way, they are exercising power. Schools and libraries echo the policies of governments, and these most definitely attempt to exercise power over future generations, advancing their own brand of ideology.
Emancipatory literature (see also 2.3.2; 3.1; 4.3) is written primarily in order to make children into independent, critical beings and would seem, therefore, to lead to The Distribution of Power 4 Intermediary Groups 4.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
109 conflict with adults and society; however, it may also be used by various groups as a tool to change society. In talking about what he calls "experimental" or "liberating" fairy tales, Zipes notes that they
interfere with the civilizing process in hope of creating change and a new awareness of social conditions; they bring undesirable social relations into question and force readers to question themselves. [...] until progressive social ideas are set into practice among adults; until there is a more progressive shift within the civilizing process itself
(1983:191)
It is interesting to observe that what was once considered emancipatory is frequently, at a later date, absorbed into the "mainstream" and becomes canonised.
Schoolbooks and curricula often show the influence of political ideology. During the Third Reich, the National Socialists created a strongly coloured ChL, as did Russia for the countries of the former Eastern bloc. Even now, conservatives and socialists change the education system when they come into power. Ministers of Education are almost always members of the ruling party. Books have always been the tools of those with political power and their effect on ChL can be particularly potent.
Since books are a major influence on the formation of a child's values and attitudes, adults take a very strong interest in them. Often they express the idea that it is dangerous to expose children to too wide a variety of books; that children cannot be trusted to make an appropriate choice. Adults say that they are "protecting innocent children" and that they want the best for their children; what they are actually working for is the preservation of their own social norms.
As well as exercising power over the children, intermediary groups exercise an indirect power over translated literature. Through their buying patterns they influence the decisions of publishers who, in turn, commission the translations. But how much of the translated literature is truly of their own choice? The Distribution of Power 4 The Children 4.5
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
110 4.5 The Children
Children are the ultimate consumers of ChL, both directly as buyers and indirectly as readers. Whilst children will tolerate, and may even enjoy, good literature selected by their parents or others, what they choose for themselves is usually an easier read - the category of pop literature. Children nowadays have more money than ever before, so their choice is becoming increasingly important for the economy (see 3; 3.1).
Pop literature has become the "penny dreadfuls" of the 1990s (see 1.7). It is mass- produced and sold in department stores and supermarkets. It avoids explosive or controversial subjects and is often vague, socially un-committed, easy entertainment. It is hardly what most parents would choose to "improve" their children. However, in possession of money, children have a powerful tool in their hands; they have become an influential participant in the market, which must not be underestimated and, indeed, is not.
Much of the popular literature for children has a "carnivalesque" element to it, in that it is faintly (sometimes directly) rebellious against what adults perceive as social norms (see 3.1). According to Pinsent (1997:31), carnival turns society upside down and embraces such forms as comic shows, verbal parodies, and various kinds of curses. A clear example of this style can be seen in the work of Dahl and in comics such as The Beano.
Throughout history, carnivals have acted as a safety valve, allowing the oppressed to express their dissatisfaction with the social fabric without revolting against it. In a sense, it could be argued that children are an oppressed sub-section of society, even today. Their lack of experience and knowledge leaves them at the mercy of the adult section of society. Children are like the uneducated of the past and are easily manipulated by those who are in a stronger position than they are. Some ChL therefore performs a similar function to the ancient carnival, allowing children to poke fun at adults in positions of authority without fear of reprisal.
The Distribution of Power 4 The Distribution of Power 4.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
111 And yet, even the carnival style can be used as a tool by parents and other intermediaries. By allowing relaxation of social norms but only within controlled limits, those same social norms can be made more acceptable to children.
Even when adults select literature to manipulate children, it still has to be acceptable to the children or it will not be read. When everyone adapts literature to the children, is it not they, who (indirectly) wield the power?
4.6 The Distribution of Power
The question of power, it seems, is linked to the question "For whom is ChL translated?" Is it for the publishers to make a profit, for the parents who seek to buy appropriate books or for the children for whom it is ultimately intended?
Adults have an image of what it is like to be a child - often based on their own childhood. Based on this, they select "appropriate" literature, to inform, to improve and to entertain. This is problematic because they do not actually know what a child's needs are. It is easy for them to look down on children and impose their own opinions, even if they do not intend to.
Children select books purely for entertainment but, despite this, may still be educated or indoctrinated by what they read. Adults have a hand in this, too, as they seek to protect the welfare of the children in their care - if only to ensure that nobody interferes with the message which they want to put across.
Large companies attempt to influence children through peer pressure and marketing. They have a product to sell and use children as a means to maximise their profits. Again, it is not the children who benefit most, though they may not actually be harmed.
Governments and institutions have an ideological message which they want to impress on children so that society develops in the way they want. In a democratic The Distribution of Power 4 The Distribution of Power 4.6
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
112 society, the majority of adults are usually complicit in this activity but in other societies they may actually (although quietly) oppose it.
In truth, power exists at many levels and is not located in a single place. Everyone in a modern society has as a share in power, even children who would normally be thought of as dependent on the stronger and more experienced. What differs is the amount of power each has, as not all exercise power to the same degree. What seems to have become clear, however, is the fact that it is the translators who are in the weakest position of all - restricted by publishers, intermediary groups and even by the tastes of the children themselves.
Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Moomins 5.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
113 5 Case Studies: Some Examples
In this chapter, four childrens books will be looked at more closely, with respect to elements inherent in ChL, such as sentimentalisation, modification of role model images, abridgement, purification, ambivalence and change in ideology. The books described in the following sections are Moomins, Mrs Christmas, Swimmy and Winnie the Pooh.
5.1 Moomins
The Moomin books were originally written by Tove J ansson in Finnish. The following discusses the opinions of Bode (1995) and Oittinen (1993) on the translation of these books into German.
Tove J ansson began to write her Moomin books soon after the Second World War. ChL of that time was more advanced and emancipated in Scandinavia than in other European countries. Children there were seen as autonomous individuals with their own rights. This fact was bound to lead to a number of changes in translation.
The translation into German in the 1950s was strongly influenced by the German idea of the function of ChL which was characterised by pedagogical intentions and moralistic considerations.
In den fnfziger Jahren durfte ein bersetzer von Jugendbchern nicht nur einfach so bersetzen, ohne den Vorstellungen der Verleger, Pdagogen und Eltern von einem guten, fr deutsche Kinder empfehlenswerten Kinderbuch Rechnung zu tragen 36
(Bode 1995:191)
36 In the 1950s, a translator of childrens literature was not able to just translate without taking into consideration the ideas of publishers, teachers and parents of a good childrens book which could be recommended for German children Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Moomins 5.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
114 Owing to the German child image of that period, the original text and loyalty to the author played a minor role when the Moomins were translated. Adaptations had to be made for the German audience in order to make the books suitable. In the early Moomin translations into German, Bode detects four main areas of modification which reflect the spirit of translating for children:
1. Childishness by way of prettifying and diminution 2. Abundance of explanation (which does not leave too many things open so that the childs imagination cannot wander off in an undesirable direction) 3. pedagogical adjustment 4. Sanitisation and purification (see also 2.5.2; 2.5.3; 2.5.4)
The German endings -lein and -chen are characteristic of childrens (childish) language, used by adults when talking to younger children, because it is meant to diminish objects to a size which the child can better understand. Thus, a Haus becomes a Huschen or a Finger becomes a Fingerlein. Diminution has been used in the German translation of the Moomins - mother Moomin fills every Tellerlein 37 or the simple sentence of the Finnish original (in German) Er lag da und schaute hinaus ... Es roch gut nach Blumen 38
is rendered Er lag wach in seinem Bettchen ... Wunderbar dufteten die Blumen zum Fenster herein 39 . This last sentence also illustrates how a simple gut is changed to the more flowery delicious and in through the window is added (1995:195).
37 Little plate 38 There he lay and looked out ... it smelt of flowers 39 He lay awake in his little bed ... a lovely scent of flowers came through the window into the room Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Moomins 5.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
115 Little additions have been made where the ST was considered too inaccurate or incomprehensible (1995:195); for instance, the original Man ... reparierte seine Huser 40
which took place in Moomin-valley on the first spring day after a long, hard winter, was felt to need further explanation for the German child readers and, therefore, became Man ...reparierte seine Huser, die unter den Winterstrmen gelitten hatten. 41
On another occasion, however, the reverse happened. The scene in which a Tarzan-game takes place was considered too alien by the translator (or publisher?). Tarzan was hardly known amongst German children at that time and, thus, even the longest explanation was felt to be insufficient enough to make this scene clear; the solution was therefore deletion.
As for the appropriate educational tone, everything in the ST that seemed helpful in this context was readily used; other things, not in line with the German protective and patronising pedagogical attitude, were improved. So, for example, the original read:
Als das Abendessen zu Ende war (es hatte nicht gerade besonders geschmeckt), sagte man ein bichen ordentlicher Gutenacht zu einander als blich, und Muminmutter ermahnte alle, sich die Zhne zu putzen. 42
(1995:196)
To clean their teeth, of course, is very useful in a childrens book because it gives a good example of how to behave. However, it could not be tolerated that dinner did not taste delicious; furthermore, one should always wish a cheery good night and not only on special occasions - so the translation was made:
40 They repaired their houses 41 They repaired their houses which had suffered from the winter storms 42 When they had finished their meal (it had not really tasted that good), everyone said good night to the others a little bit more properly than normally, and mother Moomin reminded everyone to clean their teeth Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Moomins 5.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
116 Als man das Abendessen beendet hatte, ermahnte die Muminmutter alle, sich die Zhne zu putzen. 43
(1995:196)
The following examples are illustrations of the more permissive and liberal attitude of Scandinavian ChL, which in the Germany of the 1950s and 1960s was yet illusory.
Man spielte Poker bis zum Morgen
Man spielte Karten 44
Muminvater aber trug das Radio in den Garten und stellte Tanzmusik aus Amerika ein
Der Muminvater stellte nun das Radio in den Garten. Im Nu tanzte ... 45
Dance music from America and poker, the card game of decadent society, have no place in a childrens book, the intention of which is to bring up children to be good citizens. Similarly, any allusion to excretion is out of place in such a book. Where the original has the sentence Ich wollte nur mal kurz hinaus zum Pinkeln 46 , the German version just renders Ich wollte nur ein wenig hinaus 47 .
Klingberg, incidentally, reports this sentence as being translated into English as I just wanted to look at the stars (1986:59).
43 When they had finished their meal, mother Moomin reminded everyone to clean their teeth 44 They played poker until the morning they played cards 45 But father Moomin carried the radio into the garden and turned on dance music from America father Moomin set up the radio in the garden. Within no time, ... 46 I just wanted to go out for a pee 47 I just wanted to go out for a short while Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Moomins 5.1
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
117 Erotic allusions are also frowned upon (1995:198):
Ach du liebe Gte, sagte der Snork geniert. Man soll sich nicht abschmatzen, wenn andere zuschauen. Ich konnte Dich blo nicht in diesem schrecklichen Zustand ertragen. Das wars.
Aber geh, sagte der Snork verlegen. Du sahst nur so schrecklich aus, da ich dich nicht ansehen konnte. 48
The very first translation into German was not too successful; however, a broadcast on the Bavarian radio station and performances of a puppet theatre on the TV helped to create a wider audience. Later, a Finnish TV production, including 52 half-hour segments, was seen world-wide and contributed to the popularity of the Moomins.
The Moomin books of a later date are written in a more abstract way, by which J ansson apparently attempted to appeal to adults, too. There is less action and magic and the structure of the stories is more complicated. J ansson herself has also rewritten some of her books, making them less childlike and aiming them more towards adults. Thus, her later books as well as her second, revised versions have become more ambivalent, addressing children at the magical, fantastic level and adults at the philosophical level. Bode regrets that her revised versions (prior to volume 7) have never been translated into German, because the publisher did not want to finance a new translation (1995:202). Therefore, unfortunately, the German readers are not able to enjoy the complexity and subtlety of J anssons rewritten books but only know the Moomin books as a harmless, simple idyll.
Several of the Moomin books have been abridged for a Swedish book series. Directed at younger children, all the slow-moving scenes have been deleted. The first chapter of Trollvinter, for instance, begins with a description of a winter scene, creating a soft, still atmosphere. This scene has been deleted in the adaptation and,
48 Goodness me, Snork said embarrassed. You should not canoodle when others are watching. It was just that I couldnt stand you in such a dreadful state. That was all. Goodness me, Snork said embarrassed. It was only because you looked so dreadful that I couldnt look at you. Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Mrs Christmas 5.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
118 instead, it begins with the second chapter of the original, depicting a small, quick squirrel making the whole atmosphere brisker and more exciting and interesting for a smaller child. The abridged version continues similarly, outlining a simple plot that the young can follow and omitting gloomy, long-winded narration. Trollvinter is actually the story of Moomintroll and winter. In its adaptation, however, the little squirrel is made a main character and winter becomes less important. Whereas the original has an open ending (the reader is not told whether the squirrel has died), the adapted version ends happily (it is made clear that the squirrel has survived). Also, the illustrations have been adapted to go with the new understanding of the story. As a consequence, the adaptation has created a book different from the original - a successful one in Oittinens opinion, as the fact that it is an abridgement has been made visible and it fulfils all the criteria of a book for the very young (1993:147).
5.2 Mrs Christmas
Mrs Christmas was originally written by Penny Ives in English and translated into German in 1993 (renamed Morgen kommt die Weihnachtsfrau). J ungs (1996) opinion of this translation is taken as a point for discussion here.
Morgen kommt die Weihnachtsfrau serves as an example of the new role models portrayed in German translations of ChL (see 3.1). In this book, in particular, the new image of women is propagated as being strong-willed and independent. This emphasis on female emancipation is achieved through additions and descriptions of scenes.
The English story begins with Father Christmas having fallen ill with chickenpox and Mrs Christmas being desperate at the sight of all the unfinished presents which cannot now be delivered to the children on time. The German version adds a whole paragraph, stressing female vigour and energy in such a desperate moment:
Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Mrs Christmas 5.2
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
119 Der Weihnachtsmann schlo nur mde die Augen, er war sogar zu schwach, eine Antwort zu geben. Das mu ich diesmal wohl tatschlich allein schaffen. Weihnachten kann schlielich nicht einfach ausfallen, murmelte die Weihnachtsfrau.Erst mal geh ich zu den Rentieren, sie brauchen ihr Futter. 49
After feeding the reindeer, the English version simply makes her consider what to do next. The German version, however, adds a touch of drama (1996:18) so as to stress her outstanding achievements:
Sie berlegte, was zu tun war. Nun war sie vllig auf sich gestellt. Die Arme seufzte einmal, zog den warmen Wintermantel an ... 50
When it is time to deliver the presents, she gets dressed. The ST reads Finally, she put on her red suit and hat. No one would recognise her now! This, however, seems to be unacceptable for the German translation; it is quite out of the question that she should not be recognised, as this does not conform with the ideal of an independent female. Thus, the German renders:
Schon frh stand die Weihnachtsfrau auf, zog sich den roten Mantel an und setzte die Mtze auf. Der Weihnachtsmann bekam noch einen Abschiedsku, dann verlie sie das Haus. 51
It is also interesting to see that the old ideal of the man, leaving for work and kissing his wife who stays at home, is reversed here.
49 All Father Christmas could do was to close his tired eyes; he was even too weak to give an answer. It seems as if, this time, Ill have to manage on my own. After all, Christmas cant be cancelled, Mrs Christmas muttered. First, Ill go to the reindeer, they need to be fed. 50 She thought what was to be done. Now she had to cope entirely on her own. The poor woman sighed once, put on her warm winter coat .... 51 It was early in the morning, when Mrs Christmas got up, put on her red coat and hat. Then she kissed Father Christmas good-bye and left the house. Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Swimmy 5.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
120 Going down chimneys, Mrs Christmas gets her suit dirty and, in the English original, she is upset
There! She had soot all over her lovely red suit. How did Father Christmas seem to keep so clean?
Thoughts like these are not becoming for an independent woman. Having to admit that Father Christmas manages better and does not get so dirty does not let Mrs Christmas appear in a good light. Therefore, this sentence is omitted and, instead, news of success is delivered:
Verflixt! Schon beim ersten Schornstein machte sie sich den Mantel dreckig. Aber immerhin: Das erste Geschenk war ausgeliefert. 52
Throughout the story, the translator tends to depict Mrs Christmas over-positively, quite in contrast to the original text. A good deal of effort is put into additions emphasising her will-power, strong personality and exaggerating stressful situations over which she, eventually, triumphs. She is given flattering qualities like skilful and clever, all directing the readers to the view of a modern, highly dynamic superwoman which is entirely different from the original text.
5.3 Swimmy
Swimmy was originally written by Leo Lionni in English. Meckling (1975) has investigated the translation into German.
Swimmy is an English picture book, written in the form of a fable, describing a period in the life of a little fish. Its translation into German, by J ames Krss, was awarded the Deutscher J ugendbuchpreis in 1965. It will serve to illustrate how
52 Bother! As soon as she went down the first chimney she made her coat dirty. Anyhow, the first present had been delivered. Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Swimmy 5.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
121 much a book and its message can be changed through translation adopting a completely different form and moral in the target version.
In order to give a clear picture of the changes between original version and translation, the key sentences of each text will first be compared:
English text
German text (see Appendix for backtranslation into English)
1. A happy school of little fish lived in a corner of sea somewhere. They were all red. Only one of them was as black as a mussel shell. He swam faster than his brothers and sisters. His name was Swimmy. 1. Irgendwo in einer Ecke des Meeres lebte einmal ein Schwarm kleiner, aber glcklicher Fische. Sie waren alle rot. Nur einer von ihnen war schwarz. Schwarz wie die Schale der Miesmuschel. Aber nicht nur in der Farbe unterschied er sich von seinen Schwestern und Brdern: Er schwamm auch schneller. Sein Name war Swimmy. 2. One bad day a tuna fish, swift, fierce and very hungry, came darting through the waves. In one gulp he swallowed all the little red fish. Only Swimmy escaped. He swam away in the deep wet world. He was scared, lonely and very sad. 2. Eines schlimmen Tages kam ein Thunfisch in diese Ecke des Meeres gebraust, ein schneller, grimmiger, beraus hungriger Bursche. Der verschlang alle kleinen roten Fische mit einem einzigen Maulaufreien. Nur ein Fisch entkam ihm. Das war Swimmy. Erschrocken, traurig und einsam wedelte der kleine Swimmy hinaus ins groe, groe Meer. 3. But the sea was full of wonderful creatures, and as he swam from marvel to marvel Swimmy was happy again. 3. Nun ist das Meer aber voller wunderbarer Geschpfe, die Swimmy in seiner heimatlichen Meeresecke nie gesehen hatte. Als der groe Ozean ihm Wunder um Wunder vorfhrte, wurde er bald wieder so munter wie ein Fisch im Wasser. (Und ein Fisch im Wasser war er ja; wenn auch nur ein kleiner.) 4. a. He saw a medusa made of rainbow jelly,
b. a lobster, who walked about like a water-moving machine,
4. a. Zuerst sah Swimmy die Meduse, die Qualle. Er fand sie wunderbar. Sie sah aus, als wre sie aus Glas, und sie schillerte in allen Farben des Regenbogens. b. Dann sah Swimmy eine Art lebenden Schaufelbagger. Das war der Hummer.
Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Swimmy 5.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
122 c. strange fish, pulled by an invisible thread,
d. a forest of seaweeds growing from sugar-candy rocks,
e. an eel whose tail was almost too far away to remember,
f. and sea anemones, who looked like pink palm trees swaying in the wind. c. Gleich darauf schwammen sehr seltsame Fische an ihm vorbei, leise und gleichmig, als ob sie von unsichtbaren Fden gezogen wrden. Dem kleinen munteren Swimmy waren sie ein bichen unheimlich. d. Bald aber war Swimmy wieder heiter. Er durchschwamm einen prchtigen Mrchenwald. Einen Wald aus Meeresalgen, die auf bonbonbunten Felsen wuchsen. e. Swimmy kam aus dem Staunen nicht heraus. Jetzt nmlich begegnete er einem Aal, der ihm unendlich lang erschien. Als Swimmy endlich wild wedelnd am Kopf des Aales angekommen war, konnte er sich schon nicht mehr an die Schwanzspitze erinnern. f. Ein Wunder schlo sich ans andere an. Das nchste waren die See- Anemonen. Sie schwangen in der Strmung sanft hin und her, wie rosa Palmen, vom Wind bewegt. 5. Then, hidden in the dark shade of rocks and weeds, he saw a school of little fish, just like his own. Lets go and swim and play and SEE things! he said happily. 5. Dann jedoch glaubte Swimmy seinen Augen nicht zu trauen: Er sah einen Schwarm kleiner roter Fische. Htte er nicht gewut, da sein eigener Schwarm verschlungen und verschwunden war: Er htte die Fische fr seine Schwestern und Brder gehalten. Kommt mit ins groe Meer! rief er ihnen munter zu. Ich will euch viele Wunder zeigen! 6. Swimmy thought and thought and thought. Then suddenly he said,I have it! We are going to swim all together like the biggest fish in the sea! He taught them to swim close together, each in his own place, 6. Er berlegte und berlegte und berlegte. Und endlich hatte er einen Einfall. Ich habs! rief er frhlich. Lat uns etwas probieren! Da Swimmy den kleinen roten Fischen gefiel, befolgten sie seine Anweisungen. Sie bildeten einen Schwarm in einer ganz bestimmten Form. Jedes Fischchen bekam darin seinen Platz zugewiesen. 7. and when they had learned to swim like one giant fish, he said, Ill be the eye. 7. Als der Schwarm diese bestimmte Form angenommen hatte, da war aus vielen kleinen roten Fischen ein groer Fisch geworden, ein Fisch Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Swimmy 5.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
123 aus Fischen, ein Riesenfisch. Es fehlte dem Fisch nur das Auge. Also sagte Swimmy: Ich spiele das Auge! Dann schwamm er als kleines Auge im Schwarm mit. 8. And so they swam in the cool morning water and in the midday sun and chased the big fish away. 8. Jetzt traute der Schwarm sich endlich hinaus ins offene Meer, hinaus in die groe Welt der Wunder. Niemand wagte mehr, sie zu belstigen. Im Gegenteil: Selbst die grten Fische nahmen vor dem Schwarm Reiaus. Und so schwimmen viele kleine rote Fische, getarnt als Riesenfisch, immer noch glcklich durch das Meer, und Swimmy fhlt sich in seiner Rolle als wachsames Auge sehr, sehr wohl.
Comparing the two texts, it becomes immediately obvious that the German version is twice as long as the English one. Krss has felt it necessary to make additions: in the form of repetitions, e.g. schwarz (1); Fisch (3, 7), in the form of explanations and illustrations, e.g. disguise (8), in the form of description of the sea and its animals (4), or further defining, the main character Swimmy (1, 3, 4, 5, 8). By doing so, Krss has adopted a role of narrator different from Lionnis. Krss takes an interest in the development of Swimmy and in all the happenings around the little fish. He gives the tuna fish personality (chap 2), he has sympathy with little Swimmy (so, for example, he contrasts him to the groe, groe Meer (2) or to the groe Ozean (3)) and assigns him human traits.
His style is child-like using diminutives (6) and adding little (2, 4.c) where it is not in the original text. By making Swimmy the central figure of the book Krss gives him the feelings and thoughts of a human being, particularly in his description of Swimmy being alone in the sea (4, 5). This is in stark contrast to the English version, which has only one long sentence with all the sea animals as accusative objects.
Lionni shapes his story as a fable whose main characteristic is that all the happenings are perceived from a distance. Lionnis style is short and objective, he remains as narrator in the background and does not become involved in the story. Swimmys Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Swimmy 5.3
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
124 emotions are shown only as facts and only when they are necessary to understand the plot. Lionnis main issue is a succinct depiction of the happenings to make more obvious the moral of the fable.
Krss, however, turns his translation into something more akin to a fairy tale. He introduces the expression Mrchen into his version (4.d); he uses the fairy tale formula immer noch (8) and creates excitement in the last part of the book (7) by leaving Swimmys idea unknown and only speaking of instructions, whereas the English version immediately explains Swimmys plan; also, Krss story has an explicit happy ending with every fish feeling happy (8) - another fairy tale feature.
More problematic is Krss intention to make Swimmy a hero which can be seen from his additions to the text. Krss starts at the beginning of the story, showing Swimmy not only as different from the others but as special. A separate phrase (1) stresses his being distinctly different Aber nicht nur in der Farbe unterschied er sich von seinen Schwestern und Brdern: Er schwamm auch schneller 53 , whereas the English just states the mere fact that he is a different colour and swims faster.
Also in passage 2, the German uses a separate sentence putting stress on the fact that only one fish escaped. Passage 5 uses we; lets in English; the German, however, has Swimmy (I) as a contrast to the group of other fish (you). Swimmy, the speaker, is given an active role, the other fish being passive and just listening to what Swimmy has to say. Swimmy then gives instructions, assigning every fish its right place (7). The German reader is also told that Swimmy appealed to the other fish, a fact which is not mentioned in the English version at all. So again, Swimmy is the leader and the others obey.
After Swimmy has taken the position of the giant fish eye, the German text stresses that now, eventually, the giant fish dared to swim out into the wide sea (8), whereas the English does not offer a counterpart of this remark. Finally, the last paragraph (8) in English has Swimmy and the other fish as they, giving them all
53 But he distinguished himself not only in colour from his brothers and sisters: He also swam faster. Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
125 an equal position, whereas the German book distinguishes between the group of many little red fish and the hero Swimmy. It is even emphasised that he felt very, very good in his role as watchful eye.
The German version creates a book with a completely different message and ideology. There is someone with an outstanding personality, cleverer than the rest of the group. He therefore takes the role of their leader, with the others, being timid and dependent and obediently following him. The original book, however, stresses the ideal of equality and co-operation, conveying that members of a group are strong only together.
Looking back in history and acknowledging the implications of such behaviour, Meckling expresses concern that it is possible to translate a childrens book representing such dangerous values, without the publishers noticing a message such as this; even more worrying is that such a book is awarded a national prize.
5.4 Winnie the Pooh
OSullivan (1994) has compared two translations of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne into German.
Winnie the Pooh is used as an example of Mehrfachadressiertheit 54 (see also section 1.8) in a childrens book. This means that the adult reader is offered some information which the younger reader does not notice because of his/her lesser knowledge and experience, but which does not worry younger readers or prevent them from understanding the story.
There are at least 3 different communication situations in which this book can be read, according to OSullivan:
54 multiple addressing Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
126 1. The very small children who cannot yet read themselves will love the animals because they are clearly depicted. The little world in which the animals live will be familiar to them, as the main activities there coincide with their own, namely eating, being with friends and having adventures. They will identify with Pooh and recognise their parents in the character of Christopher Robin. 2. The older children who can read the story themselves will already understand some of the simple irony of the book. They will feel superior to the animals and can laugh at their simple-mindedness. 3. The adult readers will be attracted by the ideal world described in the book, timeless and nostalgic, without any evil. They will enjoy the satire and parody of human nature as a mirror of their own weaknesses.
Winnie the Pooh was first translated into German in 1928 (by E.L. Schiffer). Although a success, it did not achieve such overwhelming selling figures as in England. This was partly due to the fact that it counted merely as a childrens book, whereas in England it had come to be loved and appreciated by adults, too. Another translation, by Harry Rowohlt, has recently been published, but it is not yet possible to predict whether this one will enjoy the status of the original amongst adult readers. OSullivan believes that the lesser degree of popularity is the result of the earlier translation having focused mainly on the children as readers and not having dealt appropriately with the elements appealing to adults and she verifies her opinion by some examples.
Several elements in the original stress the fact that not only children but also adults as readers are addressed, including the framework story, parody, capitalisation, spelling and hierarchy of knowledge.
Framework story
Around the stories about the animals, Milne has constructed a framework story giving a description of the situation in which the actual story, of Pooh, is set. It also has the function of answering questions by Christopher Robin and showing some of his reactions. The English original is very clear about where the narration changes to the framework story and where it returns to the animals of Hundred Acre Wood. This Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
127 is done by italicising the letters of the framework story and/or by putting it between dotted lines. Schiffer (as opposed to Rowohlt) has not taken over this method of division. Hence, it becomes difficult for an adult reading to a child to distinguish between the two levels and can hinder effective reading aloud. Also the element of alternating between two different levels, which may be amusing for adults, has disappeared.
Parody
All the animals are depicted as representing human types; Piglet, for instance, is the timid, Eeyore the depressed or Kanga the overanxious. The way in which they communicate with each other is pointed out as that of the educated classes, showing all their characteristics and, in doing so, ridiculing them.
In the following scene, for example, Piglet and Pooh hold a polite but meaningless conversation - small talk, full of stereotyped phrases without giving any actual opinion of anything
They began to talk in a friendly way about this and that, and Piglet said, If you see what I mean, Pooh, and Pooh said, Its just what I think myself, Piglet, and Piglet said, But, on the other hand, Pooh, we must remember, and Pooh said, Quite true, Piglet, although I had forgotten it for the moment.
Schiffer omits the whole empty conversation and just writes:
[...] begannen sie, sich in freundschaftlicher Weise ber dies und das zu unterhalten. Und grade als sie ... 55
Rowohlt notices the importance of these meaningless yet meaningful words and translates closely to the original:
55 They began to talk in a friendly way about this and that. And just when they ...
Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
128 [...] begannen sie, sich freundschaftlich ber dies und jenes zu unterhalten und Ferkel sagte:Falls du verstehst, was ich meine, Pu, und Pu sagte:Genau das finde ich auch, Ferkel, und Ferkel sagte:Aber andererseits, Pu, mssen wir auch daran denken, und Pu sagte:Sehr richtig, Ferkel, es war mir nur kurz entfallen. Und dann, gerade als ... 56
While children will only see a harmless conversation between two animals, the adult reader will find familiar patterns of conversation and of general behaviour and will be amused by it. Schiffer, again in contrast to Rowohlt, has decided to leave out these quite significant human traits.
Capitalisation
Frequently, Milne uses capitalisation of words to put particular emphasis or irony on certain events or emotions.
[Pooh with his head caught in a pot of honey] lifted up his head, jar and all, and made a loud, roaring, noise of Sadness and Despair [...]
Piglet [...] very glad to be Out of All Danger again Pooh thinks of his spelling that its good spelling but it Wobbles [...]
Capitalising draws the attention of the reader to these words and adds irony, emphasising the trivial nature of something taken extremely seriously by the animals. This is, again, something appealing predominantly to adult readers, firstly because it cannot be conveyed in a reading-aloud situation, but mainly because only adults are
56 They began to talk in a friendly way about this and that, and Piglet said, If you see what I mean, Pooh, and Pooh said, Its just what I think myself, Piglet, and Piglet said, But, on the other hand, Pooh, we must remember, and Pooh said, Quite true, Piglet, although I had forgotten it for the moment. And then, just as ...
Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
129 aware of this type of irony; it is only as children become older that they will become acquainted with the function of irony and parody.
Unfortunately, because German already uses small and initial letters, this particular effect is difficult to achieve when translating into German. Therefore, both Schiffer and Rowohlt have decided against trying to find another way of expressing this level of emphasis and do not take it into consideration.
Spelling and Hierarchy
In Hundred Acre Wood, being able to spell indicates knowledge. Therefore, everyone deliberately attempts to hide the fact that their spelling is not perfect to avoid being branded as not well enough educated. Everybodys spelling is at a different level, creating a hierarchy of knowledge. Pooh is the one who cannot read and write, at all, and therefore admires Owl who, in turn, is not a brilliant speller himself and desperately tries to hide this fact from Pooh. Christopher Robin, though also not perfect, is ranked higher by the animals in this hierarchy of knowledge, only to be surpassed by the narrator. Keeping face and not admitting that one does not know something is the main thread of the book.
The older child readers will find it amusing that the characters of the forest cannot spell properly. The adults, however, will recognise the hierarchy depicted and be amused about everyone not being perfect but not admitting it. So, for instance, having seen Owls bad spelling (and seeing him nevertheless showing off in front of Pooh who is no danger to him), the reader is shown two notices written by Christopher Robin in equally bad spelling and is told by the narrator These notices had been written by Christopher Robin, who was the only one in the forest who could spell. Here, the narrator clearly addresses the adults who have experience enough to see that Christopher Robin is admired by all the others in the forest for his knowledge which was, in fact, not so much better than the rest.
Another similar instance where Christopher Robin, the cleverest, is being mocked, is when Pooh wants to go on an expedition, pronouncing it expotition. He is being laughed at by Christopher expedition, silly old bear. Its got an x in it. However, Case Studies: Some Examples 5 Winnie the Pooh 5.4
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
130 the x was not relevant to Poohs mistake - so Christopher, too, is laughed at himself but only by the older readers, who understand the joke. Both German translations dealt with this problem adequately.
Generally, in the event of multiple addressing, it is up to the translator to decide whether they wish to ignore one or other readership or whether they want to carry all of the hidden meaning across and, if the latter, whether this is at all possible in the particular translation. However, the lack of elements, such as capitalisation, parody, spelling and hierarchy, in the earlier German translation of Winnie the Pooh, dating from 1928, appears very likely to be the reason for the non-appreciation of the book amongst the German adult readership.
Conclusion
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
131 Conclusion
The primary aims of this dissertation have been to cover as many aspects of the field of childrens literature and its translation as possible, to give an overall view of the subject and to provide a useful reference work. Although an attempt has been made to give a rounded view of the field, it was of course not possible to include every facet of the subject, as the wide variety of factors, elements and views put it beyond the scope of a work of this length.
The prevailing question in the genre would seem to be What makes a good translation of a childrens book? For reasons shown in this dissertation, this is a difficult, if not impossible, question to answer because of the multitude of conflicting influences and opinions.
It has been shown that the majority of scholars agree on the fact that the genres of childrens literature and literature written for adults do not differ greatly in terms of translation theory and the approach which should be taken. However, children have a limited world view and life experience which must be taken into account when writing and translating for them. This carries with it the danger of adults modifying texts to match their view of childrens knowledge.
Generally, every text bears the characteristics of the culture in which it was written. Transferring it to another culture means, adapting it in some way to the new environment. The contentious issue amongst theorists now is to what extent texts need to be modified. In the case of childrens literature, the borders of adaptation are extended to different degrees by different adults (i.e. translators), according to their own personal image of childhood. This means that some translators will tend to include more explanation or to remove more cultural peculiarities, thus adapting the text to a greater extent than others.
This dissertation has also shown that too many alterations of this kind are considered unnecessary, even undesirable. Such alterations are regarded as manipulation of the child who is him/herself too inexperienced to realise what has been done. A large number of scholars view these alteration procedures as negative and consider texts Conclusion
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
132 with such unnecessary modifications as second-class. They argue that children are denied the right to learn, especially about other cultures and their specific customs. They acknowledge that this is problematic, given that the primary aim of the translation of childrens books is to make literature internationally accessible and thus enable the development of international understanding and empathy between peoples.
However, there is a school of thought which says that not all adaptations are undesirable. In many circumstances texts do have to be modified to be understood in a different cultural context and, hence, reach the final consumer - the child. These adaptations are produced out of a love for children, as opposed to the other types of translation which show disrespect and disregard.
The key questions are whether - in a particular case - adaptations are necessary and if so, exactly what and how much should be altered. This is where opinions differ. Yet, there is no universal answer to this problem; everyone has to decide for himself and reach a - subjective - conclusion. So, bearing all of the above in mind: What then is a good translation for children?
The discussion has shown that much of the adaptation arises from the adults wish to manipulate and from constraints of society to preserve ethical and moral values. Hence, children are educated in the direction adults see best for them. A good translation from an adults point of view will, then, be the one they consider most suitable for children. Again, opinions of suitability seem to differ greatly. Nevertheless, these adult intermediaries are a powerful factor in the world of childrens literature and, at every level, try to influence the selection of books which are offered on the market and which are, finally, purchased for the child.
The power of money in the field of childrens book production has also been highlighted. In all modern economies, publishers adjust to market mechanisms and will produce only what they consider can be sold. Being profit-oriented, they will conform to market trends and to the wishes of parents, teachers or librarians. However, a second market has started to grow - the market of non-canonised Conclusion
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
133 literature including, primarily, all literature disapproved of and objected to by adults but loved by children. This development has become possible owing to the strong financial power of children these days, which makes them a significant factor within the economy. This trend would suggest that the children of modern times are not as innocent and inexperienced as one would perhaps like to think and that the image of the child needs to be adjusted. Yet again, what makes a good translation for children? Is it one that appeals to adults according to their pedagogical and moral ideas or is it, rather, one which appeals to the tastes of children, the ones it is actually intended to reach?
Considering what has been written in this dissertation and summarised briefly above, translators are in a very weak position. They stand in the centre with conflicting interests on all sides. It would appear impossible for them to find a translation solution which satisfies everyone and everything. Frequently, a solution can only be achieved by way of compromise. Additionally, financial constraints and the translators insecure social situation force them to conform to the demands of publishers.
It is evident from this work that the world of childrens literature is not as cute and innocent (qualities generally associated with children) as one would like and expect it to be. Rather, it is an arena of manipulation, economic power, competition and struggles between various forces.
As a consequence of all the above, it depends very much on the circumstances as to what type of good translation will be produced and whether it will be equally good to everyone who holds it in their hands.
Reviewing the current state of the market, it has been shown that the whole field of literature, including childrens literature, is dominated by the English-speaking countries. English has become a major language and, consequently, its literature has become powerful. The effect of this trend is a reduced willingness on the part of the English-speaking world to import books from countries with other languages, along Conclusion
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
134 with a lesser interest in other cultures. This tendency has caused many theorists to express concern over this one-way flow of translations and, generally, about the inferior status of nations, both in Europe and around the world.
From Chapter 3, it can be seen that a new image of childhood and adolescence has emerged. Living in a world of modern information technology, children have begun to distance themselves from the medium of books. They turn to television, the computer and computer games which provide quick, passive entertainment, unlike reading which encourages active thought and participation. At the same time, family life is in decline and parents are not prepared to spend as much time reading with their children as they used to do. In view of Americas dominance in the field of information technology, the world could be heading towards a single-language monoculture.
As yet, no theory for the translation of childrens literature has been developed although the need to put this subject area on a sound theoretical footing has frequently been expressed. It has to be asked, however, whether it is at all possible to develop a generally applicable theory which addresses all the different sub-areas. Is it possible to reconcile the many diverging aspects and the various forces in society within one single theory? This may be the reason why, thus far, no one theory has become established although several very useful approaches have been proposed.
It would seem necessary to expand research in several sub-areas of the field, generating results and solutions for each one and, thus, establishing an increasing set of sub-theories. These contributions will still not have the status of a universal theory but they will be valuable in helping to shed light on the many dark corners that still exist. At the same time, they may help to raise the, thus far, low prestige of childrens literature and to give it an appropriate place in society.
Appendix
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
135 Appendix
Swimmy (See 5.3 in the main text)
1. Somewhere in a corner of the sea there lived a school of little, but happy fish. They were all red. Only one of them was black. Black as the shell of a mussel. But he distinguished himself not only in colour from his brothers and sisters - he also swam faster. His name was Swimmy.
2. One bad day a tuna fish came darting into this corner of the sea, a swift, fierce and extremely hungry chap. In one gulp he swallowed all the little red fish. Only one fish escaped. It was Swimmy. Scared, sad and lonely he swam off into the big, big sea.
3. Now, the sea is full of wonderful creatures which Swimmy had never seen in his corner of sea. When the big ocean showed him marvel after marvel, Swimmy soon became as lively as a fish in water again. (And he was a fish in water, even though he was a little one).
4. a. First, Swimmy saw Medusa, the jellyfish. He found her wonderful. She looked as if she had been made out of glass, and she shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow.
b. Then Swimmy saw some kind of living dredger. This was the lobster.
c. Shortly afterwards, strange fish swam past him, quietly and steadily, as if they were being pulled by an invisible thread. Little, cheerful Swimmy found them a bit frightening.
d. But soon Swimmy was happy again. He swam through a marvellous fairy tale forest. A forest made from seaweed growing on sugar-candy rocks. Appendix
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
136
e. Swimmy could not stop being amazed because now he met an eel who seemed endlessly long to him. When Swimmy, furiously moving through the water, eventually arrived at the eels head, he couldnt remember its tail any more.
f. One miracle followed the other. Next were the sea anemones. They swayed softly in the current, like pink palm trees moved by the wind.
5. But then Swimmy could not believe his eyes - he saw a shoal of little red fish. If he had not known that his own shoal had been swallowed and had gone, he would have thought these fish were his brothers and sisters. Come with me into the big sea! he shouted to them cheerfully. Ill show you many marvels!
6. He thought and thought and thought. And then he had an idea. I have it! he shouted happily. Lets try something! Since the little red fish liked Swimmy, they followed his instructions. They formed a shoal in a particular shape. Every little fish had its place assigned there.
7. When the swarm had assumed this particular shape, a big fish emerged from many little red fish, a fish of fishes, a giant fish. Only the eye was missing. Therefore Swimmy said, Ill be the eye! So he swam in the shoal as a little eye.
8. Now finally the shoal dared to swim out into the open sea, out into the big world of marvels. Nobody dared to annoy them any longer. On the contrary! Even the biggest fish cleared off when the shoal came. And this is how many little red fish, disguised as a giant fish, are still swimming happily through the sea, and Swimmy is enjoying his role as a watchful eye very, very much.
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Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
146 Index
Key to Entries
main entry followed by list of page numbers main pages are shown in bold. page ranges are marked startfinish Manipulation 19, 2629, 39, 41, 107, 117
books are marked in italics Alice in Wonderland 25, 69, 77
authors are marked in SMALL CAPS CAMPE, J OACHIM HEINRICH 20, 58
sub-entries are indented under the main entry Experience 17, 88, 99 primary 88 secondary 89
reference to the main entry for this word or phrase Notion of childhood See image of childhood
multiple references to main entries with different meanings are given as a numbered list Receiver 1 See functionalist 2 See competence
references to related entries Publishers 17, 27, 39, 46, 5354, 9499, 102, 112 1 See also co-productions 2 See also intermediary groups
different words used with the same meaning co-productions 54, 78, 96 (also co-editing) (also co-printing)
A abridged version See abridgement abridgement 64, 117 (also abridgment) hidden abridgement 64 accommodation See adaptation adaptation 8, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 52 56, 63, 117 accommodation 8 adjustment 84 assimilation 8, 40 cultural context 56, 58 degree of 55 evaluative (also ideological) 55, 102 global 52 local 53 of illustrations 73 permissible 53 addition 61, 65, 115, 120, 123, 124 adjustment See adaptation adolescent literature 10, 84, 85, 86 adult addressees 25, 117, 126 aesthetic See reading aims 29, 95 of publishers 88 of translating ChL 29 Alice in Wonderland 23, 65, 73 ambivalence 2225, 117 Index
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
147 anti-localising See localisation assimilation See adaptation association paradigmatic 11 syntagmatic 11 associative See reading asymmetry 15, 36, 103 authors 3, 20, 23, 26, 39, 4950 secondary authors (also translators) 43 B Beano, The 110 Ben liebt Anna 41 Biene Maja, Die 107 book fairs 90 books 14 adolescent (also juvenile) 85 booktitles 76 carnivalesque 85, 110 dime novels 20 emancipatory 40, 85, 107, 108 hardback 96 illustrated 89, 91 paperback 96 penny dreadfuls 20, 110 picture books 10, 57, 82, 89, 93, 96, 98 popular literature 21, 52, 84, 89, 107, 110 (also pop literature) (also trivial literature) successful 1415 booktitles 76 C CAMPE, J OACHIM HEINRICH 18, 55 canonised 21, 100, 107, 108 carnivalesque 85, 110 censorship 20, 2528, 40, 52, 61 self-censorship 20 childhood image See image of childhood childrens literature region See region classicity 32 co-editing See co-productions cognitive See reading colonialism 105 colour printing 93 communicative role (of ChL) 37 competence (of language) 11 comprehension 8, 12, 13, 57 concept of adolescence 85 concept of childhood See image of childhood conculturality 31, 32, 36 primary 31 secondary 32 consumer 82, 110 co-printing See co-productions co-productions 51, 74, 91 (also co-editing) (also co-printing) critics 5152 cultural context adaptation See adaptation cultural identity 75 cultural peculiarities See cultural specifics cultural specifics 33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 53, 56, 69, 92, 131 (also cultural peculiarities) (also peculiarities) cultural translation barriers 31 culture 30, 37, 40, 41, 53, 70, 92, 95, 99, 103 D Daddy-Long-Legs 66 definition (of ChL) 57 degree of adaptation See adaptation deletion 56, 61, 65, 115 development (of ChL) See history (of ChL) dialect 35, 71 See also language dime novels 20 diminutive 59, 114, 123 disculturality 31, 36 Doppeladressiertheit See double addressing double addressing 23, 24 dynamic See style Index
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
148 E efferent See reading emancipatory 40, 85, 107, 108 embellishments 58 Emil und die Detektive 58, 74 Emile 19 emotional See reader epilogue See metalinguistic procedures escapism 84 evaluative adaptations See adaptations experience 16, 83, 93 See also knowledge primary 83 secondary 84 explanation See metalinguistic procedures F fairy tales 15, 61, 62, 63, 78, 93, 109 experimental (also liberating) 109 false friends 81 fashion words 72 Fiera del Libro per Ragazzi 90 flow of literature 31, 33, 34, 35, 81, 94, 95, 96 (also translation direction) FLUGGE, KLAUS 96 footnotes See metalinguistic procedures foreignness 35, 37, 41, 68 Frankfurter Buchmesse 90 functionalist 38, 104 receiver 38 sender 38 G genderless language See language global adaptation See adaptation glossaries See metalinguistic procedures grammar 76 grammatical gender 78 Gullivers Travels 6, 62 H hardback See books Heidi 107 hidden abridgement 64 (also abridgment) historic present 77 history (of ChL) 1722 honorific language See language Huckleberry Finn 46 I IBBY See International Board of Books for Young People ideological adaptations See adaptations illustrated books 89, 91 illustrations 13, 51, 53, 67, 73, 74, 78, 81, 91, 92, 93, 118 adaptation of 73 localisation of 73 image of childhood 17, 26, 34, 47, 58, 84, 87, 114 new 83 intermediary groups 16, 20, 25, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43, 50, 72, 108 1 See also librarians 2 See also parents 3 See also publishers 4 See also teachers 5 See also translators International Board of Books for Young People 22 (IBBY) international book market 16, 94 International Youth Library in Munich 22 Island of Adventure 63 J jeans generation 86 jeans literature 86 Jungle Book 106 Index
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
149 K Kizzy 80 KLINGBERG, GTE 6, 14, 29, 33, 55, 56, 58, 63, 64, 66, 75, 116 knowledge 16, 25, 36, 69, 82, 125 L language 10, 11, 7173 abstract 12 competence 11 concrete 12 dialect 35, 71 genderless 78 honorific 79 in non-fiction 80 juvenile 72 of children 11, 45, 114 performance 11 skills of translators 44 slang 71 sociolect 71 standard German/English 77 lesser used language areas 91, 98, 99 librarians 16, 82, 97, 108 See also intermediary groups LINDGREN, ASTRID 27, 34, 37, 49, 74 literary See reader literature region See region Little Prince, The 23 Little Red Riding Hood 61, 63 local adaptation See adaptation localisation 56, 58, 75 of illustrations 73 Long Journey of Lukas B, The 77 Lord of the Rings, The 86 M major language 88 manipulation 17, 2528, 37, 101, 110 maps See metalinguistic procedures Mehrfachadressiertheit See multiple addressing metalinguistic procedures 35, 68, 75 Michel in der Suppenschssel 74 mistranslations 66, 81 modernisation 60, 63 Moomins 76, 113 Mrs Christmas 118 multiple addressing 23, 125, 130 N names 75 Noddy 63 non-canonised 21, 24, 84, 100, 107 non-fiction (for children) 80, 84, 93 notion of childhood See image of childhood novel of initiation 86 Nursery Alice 57 O official See reader Other One, The 54 P Paddington 67 paperback See books Pappa Pellerins Daughter 63 paradigmatic See association parents 16, 20, 37, 97, 108 See also intermediary groups Peace at Last 59 peculiarities See cultural specifics pedagogic 19, 31, 36, 52, 59, 81, 113, 114 penny dreadfuls 20, 110 performance (of language) 11 peripheral country 93, 107 permissible adaptation See adaptation picture books 10, 57, 82, 89, 93, 96, 98 pictures See illustrations Pinocchio 23, 35 Pippi Lngstrump 34 Pocahontas 108 Polysystem theory 39, 99, 105 primary (also innovatory) model 100 secondary (also conservative) model 100 Index
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
150 popular literature 21, 52, 84, 85, 89, 107, 110 (also pop literature) (also popular fiction) (also trivia) (also trivial literature) Pouks Gang 54 pragmatic See reader preface See metalinguistic procedures prettifying 58, 74, 114 primary 1 See conculturality 2 See experience 3 See Polysystem theory productivisation 55 pronunciation aids See metalinguistic procedures Prototype theory 69 Pseudo-Kinderliteratur 24 publishers 16, 25, 37, 43, 5051, 88 93, 96, 106 1 See also co-productions 2 See also intermediary groups purification 20, 61, 63, 64, 114 R rational See reader readability 10, 12 reader 9, 23, 37, 38, 47 emotional 9 literary 9 new 72 official 24 pragmatic 9 rational 9 unofficial 24 readership 10, 72, 130 reading 13 aesthetic 13, 47 associative 15 cognitive 15 efferent 13, 47 reading aloud to a child 13 reading interests 14 reading situation 10, 12, 22 receiver
1 See functionalist 2 See competence reception 8, 13 region 32, 34, 99 (also literature region) childrens literature region 32 REI, KATHARINA 36, 38, 43, 62, 66, 69 revised version (also edition) 32, 62, 64, 117 Rezeption See reception Robinson Crusoe 18, 52, 55 Robinson der Jngere (Campe) 19 role model 84, 118 Ronja Rvardatter 34 ROUSSEAU, J EAN-J ACQUES 19 S sanitised 20, 61, 114 1 See also censorship 2 See also purification Schlaraffenland, Das 62 secondary 1 See conculturality 2 See experience 3 See Polysystem theory secondary authors See authors selection process 16 self-censorship See censorship sender 1 See functionalist 2 See performance sentimentalisation 22, 55, 58 SHAVIT, ZOHAR 21, 24, 39, 55, 101 shortened version See abridgement simplification 56, 57 Skopos theory 39, 105 See also functionalist slang 71 See also language Snow White 61, 63, 74 So long, Grandpa 77 sociolect 71 See also language speakability 13 static See style Index
Childrens Literature and its Translation. An Overview
151 status of ChL 3, 21, 88 of English 88, 99, 108 of English literature 95 of the translator 36, 48 of translated literature 100 strangeness See foreignness style dynamic 11 static 12 sub-system (in Polysystem theory) 101 successful books See books superaddressee 47 supply 87 Swimmy 120 syntagmatic See association T taboo 20, 26, 61, 63, 92, 93 1 See also censorship 2 See also purification teachers 16, 97 See also intermediary groups text types (Rei) 38, 104 Thumbelina 63 Tintin 34 Tom Sawyer 23, 57, 62 translation direction See flow of literature translators 16, 37, 38, 39, 4249, 87 88, 104 See also intermediary groups and artists 73 trivial literature See popular literature (also trivia) U unofficial See reader W Winnie the Pooh 7, 23, 79, 125 Wizard of Oz, The 59 X xenophobic 97, 98