The Translation of Literature for Children

obligatory courses

Dedicated to the extramural MA programme

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

Dedicated to the extramural MA programme

The course presents major lines of research on translating for young audiences. 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. It also practices translation analysis, based on the multi-faceted model of literary translation analysis proposed by M. Adamczyk-Garbowska (1988) and inspires students to apply analystic skills to their own translations of samples from chiltren's texts.

1. An overview of research on translating for young audiences: changing concepts and approaches

2. Major strategies: domestication and foreignization in connection with the changing child image

3. Issues in translating children's poetry

4. Model of analysis part I : lexical and syntactic issues

5. Model of analysis part II: stylistic and socio-culturall issues

6. Illustration of the model: a comparative analysis of two Polish translations of an English children's classic

7. Retranslations of children's classics in changing cultural contexts

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

Barańczak, Stanisław (1994). „Rice pudding i kaszka manna: O tłumaczeniu poezji dla dzieci,” in: Barańczak, Stanisław Ocalone w tłumaczeniu. Poznań: wydawnictwo 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.

Dymel-Trzebiatowska, Hanna (2013). Translatoryka literatury dziecięcej. Analiza przekładu utworów Astrid Lindgren na język polski. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.

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

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

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. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 208-216.

Oittinen, Riitta (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 (1981). “Translation of Children’s Literature as a Function of its Position in the Literary Polysystem.” Poetics today 2(4), 171-179.

Shavit, Zohar (1986). Poetics of Children’s Literature. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. http://www.tau.ac.il/~zshavit/pocl/index.html

Szymańska, Izabela (2009a).”Serie translatorskie w polskich przekładach anglojęzycznej literatury dziecięcej. Obraz adresata jako motyw łączący serię”. In: 50 lat polskiej translatoryki, ed. K. Hejwowski et al., Warszawa: Instytut Lingwistyki Stosowanej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 513-527.

Szymańska, Izabela (2009b), „Wymiary obcości w przekładzie dla dzieci. Przypadek Byczka Fernando”. In: Między oryginałem a przekładem XV. Obcość kulturowa jako wyzwanie dla tłumacza, ed. J. Brzozowski, M. Filipowicz-Rudek, Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka, 155-172.

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 (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

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

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

Woźniak, Monika, Katarzyna Biernacka–Licznar, Bogumiła Staniów (2014). Przekłady w systemie małych literatur. O włosko–polskich i polsko–włoskich tłumaczeniach dla dzieci i młodzieży. Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek

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

Acquainting students with the major concepts and tendencies in the research of children's literature translation, developing the ability to analyze translated texts according to a systematic model and interpret the translator's choices in the cultural context.

Education at language level B2+

K_W01 understands the importance, place and specificity of English philology in the context of the humanities;

K_W03 has an advanced knowledge of the grammar, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology, pragmatics of English and its history;

K_W05 knows the complex conditions of the process of second language acquisition; understands and properly applies models of foreign language acquisition typical of English linguistics;

K_W06 knows and understands the nuances of translation theory and the complexity of the translation process;

K_W08 has an in-depth knowledge of the historical development of language, especially English, and the semantic variability and complexity accompanying this process;

K_W09 has an advanced understanding of the complexity and pluralism of cultures, knows the obvious and non-obvious cultural codes that determine intercultural contacts, knows the structural and institutional conditions of culture, especially in the context of the countries of the English language area;

K_W10 knows to an advanced degree the geographical, historical, political, economic, cultural and social realities of the countries of the English language area;

K_U03 is able to present the acquired knowledge logically and clearly in written and oral form;

K_U05 can effectively select and apply knowledge of the discipline for communication, teaching, research purposes;

K_U09 is able to recognize obvious and secondary cultural symbols, use complex cultural codes when interacting with representatives of the cultures of the countries of the English language area, and generally in intercultural interactions;

K_K02 understands the role of lifelong learning and is convinced of the need for personal and professional development; defines the successive stages of this development;

K_K05 appreciates individual initiative, self-reliance, and recognizes the importance of personal contribution to team activities;

K_K06 recognizes the nature of dilemmas, problems, conflicts, and seeks the best solutions to them. 

A written test including a discussion of theoretical issues and an analysis of fragments of translations.

Retake: a written test in the same form

Two absences are allowed.