The Translation of Italian Children’s Literature into English: A Case-Study

Posega, Arianna (author), Currie, Oliver (mentor)

Translated children’s books can give children the opportunity to learn and meet new cultures through engaging plots. How much of the foreign culture the child will learn depends on the translation strategy adopted in the translation process. Translators can bring the reader closer to the source culture with foreignization. In this case the culture-specific items are retained. On the other hand, they can bring the source text closer to the reader’s culture with domestication. In this case the culture-specific items are adapted to be more familiar to the readers. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the text and illustrations in selected Italian children's books translated into English. The books included in the analysis are a picture book for younger readers (3-7 years old), The Big Book of Slumber, a collection of short stories entitled Telephone Tales for readers in the 8-12 age group and four stories of the Geronimo Stilton series (My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton; Geronimo’s Valentine; Thea Stilton and the Roman Holiday; Operation: Secret Recipe) for readers in the 7-10 age group. The purpose of the analysis is to determine which translation strategies have been used, with a particular focus on the culture-specific items present in the texts and illustrations. The analysis showed that in the selected works, foreignization and domestication were used complementarily. For example, a domesticating approach was at times used for the characters’ names. Translators used a foreignizing approach when they retained the exotic elements of the source culture (such as foods, geographical places) in the translations. The analysis also highlighted the importance of the connection between the text and the illustrations in children’s literature.

• Language: English
• Keywords: literary translation, translated children’s literature, foreignization and domestication, culture-specific items, text and illustrations
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-161805
• COBISS.SI-ID: 210843651
• Publication date in RUL: 14.09.2024

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Prevajanje italijanske otroške književnosti v angleščino: Študija primera

Abstract

Prevedene otroške knjige lahko otrokom omogočijo, da se prek zanimivih zgodb učijo in spoznavajo nove kulture. Koliko se bo otrok naučil o tuji kulturi, je odvisno od prevajalske strategije, za katero se bo prevajalec odločil. Prevajalci lahko bralca približajo izvorni kulturi s potujevanjem. V tem primeru se kulturno-specifični elementi ohranijo. Prevajalec se lahko odloči, da bo izvirno besedilo približal bralčevi kulturi z udomačitvijo. V tem primeru se kulturno-specifični elementi spremenijo tako, da se izbere elemente, ki jih bo bralec prepoznal. Namen tega magistrskega dela je analizirati besedila in ilustracije v izbranih italijanskih otroških knjigah, ki so bile prevedene v angleščino. Knjige, vključene v analizo so slikanica za mlajše bralce (3-7 let), The Big Book of Slumber, zbirka kratkih zgodb z naslovom Telephone Tales za 8-12 let stare bralce ter štiri zgodbe iz zbirke Geronino Stulton (My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton; Geronimo’s Valentine; Thea Stilton and the Roman Holiday; Operation: Secret Recipe), namenjene 7-10 let starim bralcem. Namen analize je ugotoviti, katere prevajalske strategije so bile uporabljene, s posebnim poudarkom na kulturno-specifičnih elementih, prisotnih v besedilih in ilustracijah. Analiza je pokazala, da sta v izbranih delih, strategiji potujevanja in podomačevanja uporabljeni komplementarno. Strategija podomačevanja je bila v nekaterih primerih uporabljena pri prevodih imen junakov. Prevajalci so uporabili strategijo potujevanja, kadar so tuje elemente izvorne kulture (kot so na primer hrana, geografski kraji) ohranili tudi v prevodih. Poleg tega je analiza pokazala pomembnost povezave med besedilom in ilustracijami v otroški književnosti.

• Keywords: literarno prevajanje, prevedena otroška književnost, potujevanje in podomačevanje, kulturno-specifični elementi, besedilo in ilustracije