Children’s literature in translation
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Patricia Anne Odber De Baubeta
Abstract
This paper considers an early international publishing franchise, in which titles published in French by Gautier-Languereau for their children’s Série 15 were purchased by foreign publishing houses, translated, then marketed in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The books contain short stories (15 in each) that may originally have been intended for adult readers but have now been appropriated by literary editors for a juvenile audience, thus moving into the category of ‘crossover’ fiction. In some cases, the original story was published in English, translated into French, then re-translated from French into Portuguese or Spanish, hence the term ‘double crossing’. This process raises a number of questions about the nature of intercultural transfer, children’s responses – or responsiveness – to foreign literature, and the status accorded to children’s literature in general. An examination of some of the Portuguese translations seems to corroborate Zohar Shavit’s view (1999) that translators working with a supposedly minor or peripheral genre do not hesitate to modify or adapt their source text. While purists might wish to accuse the translator of committing an act of betrayal, as in the time-honoured adage traduttore, traditore, there is no evidence to suggest that the youthful readers of the Portuguese Série 15 felt especially defrauded or cheated in their reading experience, a reaction which may bear out Paul Hazard’s (1960) belief in a universal republic of children. Nowadays there is a great deal of theorising of children’s literature, much of it by educationalists or ‘mediadores’, some from a feminist perspective, some from the perspective of translation and cultural studies. Scholars have made in-depth studies, written essays and monographs, contributed articles to encyclopaedias and histories of children’s literature, and tackled a broad range of issues
Abstract
This paper considers an early international publishing franchise, in which titles published in French by Gautier-Languereau for their children’s Série 15 were purchased by foreign publishing houses, translated, then marketed in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The books contain short stories (15 in each) that may originally have been intended for adult readers but have now been appropriated by literary editors for a juvenile audience, thus moving into the category of ‘crossover’ fiction. In some cases, the original story was published in English, translated into French, then re-translated from French into Portuguese or Spanish, hence the term ‘double crossing’. This process raises a number of questions about the nature of intercultural transfer, children’s responses – or responsiveness – to foreign literature, and the status accorded to children’s literature in general. An examination of some of the Portuguese translations seems to corroborate Zohar Shavit’s view (1999) that translators working with a supposedly minor or peripheral genre do not hesitate to modify or adapt their source text. While purists might wish to accuse the translator of committing an act of betrayal, as in the time-honoured adage traduttore, traditore, there is no evidence to suggest that the youthful readers of the Portuguese Série 15 felt especially defrauded or cheated in their reading experience, a reaction which may bear out Paul Hazard’s (1960) belief in a universal republic of children. Nowadays there is a great deal of theorising of children’s literature, much of it by educationalists or ‘mediadores’, some from a feminist perspective, some from the perspective of translation and cultural studies. Scholars have made in-depth studies, written essays and monographs, contributed articles to encyclopaedias and histories of children’s literature, and tackled a broad range of issues
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: Translation anthologies and collections 1
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I. Discursive practices and scholarly agency
- Forms and functions of anthologies of translations into French in the nineteenth century 17
- The short story in English meets the Portuguese reader 35
- Cancioneiro Chinez 57
- Academic navel gazing? Playing the game up front? 75
- Las antologías sobre la traducción en la Península Ibérica 89
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II. National and international canonization processes
- Poetry anthologies as Weltliteratur projects 107
- Publishing translated literature in late 19th century Portugal 123
- Short stories from foreign literatures in Portugália’s series Antologias Universais 137
- Patterns in the external history of Portuguese collections with translations of Polish literature (1855–2009) 153
- Extra-European literatures in anthology during the Estado Novo (1933–1974) 171
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III. Selection and censorship
- Children’s literature in translation 189
- Translating German poetry into French under the Occupation 205
- The reception of science fiction and horror story anthologies in the last years of Francoist Spain 217
- Censored discourse in anthologies and collections of the Far West 229
- Philosophical collections, translation and censorship 247
- Translation anthologies and British literature in Portugal and Hungary between 1949 and 1974 259
- Notes on contributors and editors 275
- Name index 281
- Subject index 285
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: Translation anthologies and collections 1
-
I. Discursive practices and scholarly agency
- Forms and functions of anthologies of translations into French in the nineteenth century 17
- The short story in English meets the Portuguese reader 35
- Cancioneiro Chinez 57
- Academic navel gazing? Playing the game up front? 75
- Las antologías sobre la traducción en la Península Ibérica 89
-
II. National and international canonization processes
- Poetry anthologies as Weltliteratur projects 107
- Publishing translated literature in late 19th century Portugal 123
- Short stories from foreign literatures in Portugália’s series Antologias Universais 137
- Patterns in the external history of Portuguese collections with translations of Polish literature (1855–2009) 153
- Extra-European literatures in anthology during the Estado Novo (1933–1974) 171
-
III. Selection and censorship
- Children’s literature in translation 189
- Translating German poetry into French under the Occupation 205
- The reception of science fiction and horror story anthologies in the last years of Francoist Spain 217
- Censored discourse in anthologies and collections of the Far West 229
- Philosophical collections, translation and censorship 247
- Translation anthologies and British literature in Portugal and Hungary between 1949 and 1974 259
- Notes on contributors and editors 275
- Name index 281
- Subject index 285
