The Translation of Literature for Children

elective courses

Course addressed to students interested in translation practice and critique, aimed at surveying the research on and the specificity of translations for young readers.

Dedicated to the MA programme

Requires the knowledge of the Polish language

Classroom

Dedicated to the MA programme

The course is based on the multi-faceted model of literary translation analysis proposed by M. Adamczyk-Garbowska (1988) applied to a selection of Polish translations of English prose texts for children that are not analyzed in her book or which since its publication have been retranslated. It addresses the changing approaches to translating children literature (several Polish versions of the same text, older and newer translations), the motivation of the translator's choices, translation problems of lexical, stylistic and cultural nature, the strategies applied by translators, the influence of the specific type of the target audience on the translator's work, the issue of adaptation and the translator's creativity. The texts to be discussed have been selected so as to represent various genres, both British and American tradition, and not only classical, but also contemporary literature for children.

1. Children's literature - its specificity, topics, functions, the Polish and English traditions, typical genres, conventions. The image of the child reader as influencing expectations concerning the translation.

2. Children's poetry in translation - a functional approach. The functions of children's poetry; translation strategies; formal vs. functional fidelity.

3. The concepts of domestication and fereignization in relation the translating for children

4. Books for very young readers,picture books, books intended to be read aloud - cultural and stylistic problems of translation.

5. The multifaceted model of translation analysis posited for children's literature by M. Adamczyk-Garbowska (1988).

6. Lexical and syntactic problems in children's literature translation: text interpretation, mistranslation, omissions and additions, neologisms, wordplay, culture-specific items. The foreignization and domestication strategies.

7. Stylistic issues in children's literature translation: rendering the characteristics of style, dialects and non-standard language, the stylistic conventions of the source and target cultures, imagery. Socio-cultural problems: the image of the addressee, translation as reflecting the language of its time, the impact of ideological factors and pedagogical concepts on translation, the role of pictures.

8 Formal and dynamic equivalence in translating for children

9. Multiple translations of children's classics - motivation, the influence of publishers and market situation, reception

10-14. Students' presentations analyzing selected translations for young readers

15. Summary: tendencies in the Polish practice of children's literature translation; current developments in research on this topic.

Selected literature:

Adamczyk-Garbowska, Monika (1988). Polskie tłumaczenia angielskiej literatury dziecięcej. Problemy krytyki przekładu. Wrocław: Ossolineum.

Barańczak, Stanisław (1994). "O tłumaczeniu poezji dla dzieci," in: Ocalone w tłumaczeniu. Poznań: a5, 67-77.

Borodo, Michał (2006). "Children's Literature Translation Studies? - zarys badań nad literaturą dziecięcą w przekładzie". Przekładaniec 16, 12-23.

Borodo, Michał (2011). “The regime of the adult: textual manipulation in translated, hybrid and glocal texts for young readers”. In: Language, Culture and the Dynamics of Age, ed. by Anna Duszak and Urszula Okulska, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 329-348.

Borodo, Michał (2017). Translation, Globalization and Younger Audiences. The Situation in Poland. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Du-Nour, Miryam (1995). "Retranslation of Children's Books as Evidence of Changes of Norms". Target 7:2, 327-346.

Klingberg, Göte, Mary Orvig and Stuart Amor (eds) (1978). Children's Books in Translation. The Situation and the Problems. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

Klingberg, Göte (1978). "The Different Apects of Research into the Translation of Children's Books and its Practical Application". In: Klingberg et al. (eds), 84-89.

Krajka, Wiesław (1998) "Czy przekład może być doskonalszy od oryginału? O Pierścieniu i róży W.M. Thackeraya w przekładzie Z. Rogoszówny". In: Ludorowski, Lech (ed.) W kręgu arcydzieł literatury młodzieżowej. Interpretacje-przekłady-adaptacje. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS, 205-218.

Lathey, Gillian (ed.) (2006). The Translation of Children’s Literature. A Reader. Multilingual Matters.

Lathey, Gillian (2012). Invisible Storytellers. The Role of Translators in Children’s Literature. New York and London: Routledge.

Lathey, Gillian (2015). Translating Children’s Literature. New York and London: Routledge

Lefebvre, Benjamin (ed.)(2015). Textual Transformations in Children’s Literature. Adaptations, Translations, Reconsiderations. London: Routledge.

O'Connell, Ethine (1996). "Translating for Children". In: Anderman, Gunilla and Margaret Rogers (eds). Word, Text, Translation. Clavendon: Multilingual Matters, 208-216.

Oittinen, Riita (2000). Translating for Children. New York & London: Garland.

Oittinen, Riitta (2006). “No Innocent Act. On the Ethics of Translating for Children.” In: Van Coillie, Jan & Walter P. Verschueren (eds), 35-45.

O’Sullivan, Emer (2005). Comparative Children’s Literature. London: Routledge.

Shavit, Zohar (1986). Poetics of Children's Literature. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.

Szymańska, Izabela (2014). „Przekłady polemiczne w literaturze dziecięcej.” Rocznik przekładoznawczy 9, 193-208.

Szymańska, Izabela (2015a). “Barańczak a sprawa Kota”. In: “To życie cieniem tylko jest przelotnym…” Pamięci Stanisława Barańczaka, ed. Ewa Kujawska-Lis. Olsztyn: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, 85-102.

Szymańska, Izabela (2015b). “Translators’ Adventures in Aliceland. Intercultural Communication in Translating for Children”. In: Komunikacja międzykulturowa w świetle współczesnej translatologii, ed. Iwona Anna Ndiaye, Ewa Kujawska-Lis, Olsztyn: Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski.

Szymańska, Izabela (2016b). “Ever-Green Gables. On Modernised Retranslations of Children’s Classics”. In Old Masters in New Interpretations. Readings in Literature and Visual Culture, ed. Anna Kwiatkowska, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 113-131.

Szymańska, Izabela (2020). “Transediting Literature: R. L. Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses in Polish.” ANGLICA. An International Journal of English Studies 29(3): 157-175, https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=207775

Szymańska, Izabela (2021). “Satire or Abuse? Offensive Language in Two Polish Translations of Roald Dahl’s Matilda as Evidence of Changing Child Images”. In Mediating Practices in Translating Children’s Literature. Tackling Controversial Topics, ed. Joanna Dybiec-Gajer , Agnieszka Gicala. Berlin: Peter Lang, 231-248.

Tabbert, Reinbert (2002). "Approaches to the translation of children's literature. " Target 14:2, 303-351.

Tylicka, Barbara & Grzegorz Leszczyński (eds) (2002). Słownik literatury dziecięcej i młodzieżowej. Wrocław: Ossolineum.

Van Coillie, Jan & Walter P. Verschueren (eds) (2006). Children's Literature in Translation. Challenges and Strategies. Manchester & Kinderhook: St Jerome Publishing.

Yamazaki, Akiko (2002). "Why change names? On the translation of children's books". Children's Literature in Education, vol. 33, no.1, 53-62.

For students enrolled before 2022/2023:

Knowledge:

Students deepen their knowledge of translation teories and their awareness of the complexity of the translation process.

Students get acquainted with the major concepts and tendencies in the research on children's literature translation.

Skills:

Students develop the skill of analyzing translated texts according to a systematic model.

Students learn to interpret the translator's choices in the cultural context.

In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

Social competences:

Students practice negotiation and cooperation.

Students become more conscious of the impact of socio-cultural factors on text production and of differeces between cultures in the acceptability of various text features.

Education at language level B2+

For students enrolled in 2022/2023:

Students will be able to:

- identify and characterize on an advanced level the specifics of translating for young readers

- describe on an advanced level the current trends in reseach on translatinf for young readers within translation studies

Abilities - Students are able to:

- apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to research on translations for young readers within translation studies

- apply knowledge obtained during the course to account for and solve a problem in translation for young readers

- analyze linguistic and culture problems in translating for young readers in the social and historical context

- discern alternative methods applied to translation analysis

- collaborate with others in group tasks

- present knowledge in a coherent, precise and linguistically correct manner in English on level C2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, ensuring an appropriate register and form

Social competences - Students are ready to:

- apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

- take responsibility for performing their professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to translation studies

- assess critically their own knowledge and skills related to translation analysis

Credit is given on the basis of an analytical presentation of a selected translation and an analytical essay.

Retake: an analytical essay on a different topic.

Three absences are allowed.