Translation of Children's Literature: A Reader

by Gillian Lathey (Editor)

Since the late 1970s, scholarly interest in the translation of children’s books has increased at a rapid pace. Research across a number of disciplines has contributed to a developing knowledge and understanding of the cross-cultural transformation and reception of children’s literature. The purpose of this Reader is to reflect the diversity and originality of approaches to the subject by gathering together, for the first time, a range of journal articles and chapters on translation for children published during the last thirty years. From an investigation of linguistic features specific to translation for children, to accounts of the travels of international classics such as the Grimm Brothers’ Household Tales or Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, to a model of narrative communication with the child reader in translated texts and, not least, the long-neglected comments of professional translators, these essays offer new insights into the challenges and difference of translating for the young.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

259 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2006

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A varied, textually dense and very much informative selection of diverse articles on very specifically the translation of children's literature, this critical secondary resource is most definitely highly recommended (although only with the in my opinion necessary caveat that The Translation of Children’s Literature: A Reader is most definitely meant more for readers with an academic interest in translation studies, as the topics and essays presented are often if not mostly rather complicated and that some of the contributing authors do tend to write in a style that does not always make for easy reading). And what actually sets The Translation of Children's Literature: A Reader rather and most pleasantly apart from many other such compilations I have personally encountered is the fact that editor Gillian Lathey has included not only a very much detailed and enlightening introduction, but also essential biographical information on each of the contributors, as well as a general and extensive bibliography and index (as often, academic book compilations of essays, of articles, tend to lack the latter, as it is generally assumed that the individual authors will provide a list of works cited and the like within the included contributing essays themselves).

Now The Translation of Children's Literature: A Reader is once again a tome that one does not necessarily have to read (or even want to peruse) from cover to cover (from beginning to end), since more often than not (and especially if using the book for specific research purposes), one will generally tend to read only those articles, those essays that are suitable and necessary for one’s academic requirements. I have therefore and of course NOT read all of the featured articles in The Translation of Children’s Literature: A Reader, but only those that I have perused and made academic, research based use of (but these and the general set-up of how Gillian Lathey has presented The Translation of Children’s Literature: A Reader have indeed sufficiently impressed me to strongly and without question consider a more than well deserved five star rating).

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the articles are quite good. Though they can be a bit limited in scope, they are of a reasonable length and clearly written. My one complaint is that several of the articles were reprints of journal articles that I'd read before. Very interesting stuff!