27.2471, Review: Ling & Lit; Translation: Lathey (2015)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-2471. Fri Jun 03 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.2471, Review: Ling & Lit; Translation: Lathey (2015)

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Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2016 15:17:57
From: Laura Dubcovsky [ledubcovsky at ucdavis.edu]
Subject: Translating Children's Literature

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36129199


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-3585.html

AUTHOR: Gillian  Lathey
TITLE: Translating Children's Literature
SERIES TITLE: Translation Practices Explained
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Laura Dubcovsky, University of California, Davis

Reviews Editor: Robert Arthur Cote

SUMMARY

The book “Translating Children's Literature” by Gillian Lathey illuminates
aspects of the genre relevant for translators. The author starts by defining
children’s literature and its main characteristics. In Chapter 1, Lathey
focuses on the narrative communication with the child reader, while in
Chapters 2 and 3, she emphasizes the importance of translating cultural
markers and integrating images and texts, respectively. In the two following
chapters, the author moves to specific linguistic challenges, such as managing
a broad range of registers in Chapter 4, and translating children’s poetry in
Chapter 5. Finally, she refers to current globalization of the children’s
literature market, which is continually reshaped by retellings and
retranslation (Chapter 6) and by changing demands from publishers and
audiences (Chapter 7).   

In her introduction, Lathey presents general purposes and the textbook’s
layout, limiting its scope to the translation of fiction and poetry genres.
She observes that although children’s literature is characterized by its short
extension, vivid situations, and simple language, it poses particular
challenges to the translator. For example, the author mentions the uneven
relationship established between adult writers and young audiences and its
possible consequences based on generational borders and crossovers. She also
refers to the broad gamut of intentions when writing for children, such as
educating, promoting literacy, admonishing, and entertaining. Likewise, she
mentions authors’ varied motivation, such as reviving their own childhood,
gaining omniscient power, and feeling accomplice with the young reader.  After
revisiting old and new children’s books, Lathey claims that translating
children’s literature is a complex task that involves high levels of
creativity and ideological commitment, together with a strong foundation on
developmental cognitive, emotional, and literate knowledge. 

“Narrative communication with the child reader” (Chapter 1) focuses on the
translation of the child’s voice in fictional narratives. Lathey describes
specific challenges of the agents involved in the literate process of the
translation. First, the translator needs to respect the author’s voice, style
and tone, as they are integral to the narrative. To gain a better
understanding of his/her political or ideological perspective in the text on
question, she recommends reading the author’s other works and undertaking a
biographical research. The translator is also an active agent the literate
process. S/he may intervene through cultural and textual explanations,
integrated as seamlessly as possible into the text. Finally, the young
audience represents a powerful agent, whose voice needs to be respected.
Lathey encourages translators to participate in editorial decisions, such as
treatment of cruel parts, old fashioned references, and ideological messages,
strengthening their role of linguistic and cultural agents in the publishing
process. However, she recommends translators do not to simplify the language
and make only necessary changes to maintain the original flavor and facilitate
young readers’ full understanding of the text.

In Chapter 2, “Meeting the unknown: Translating names, cultural markers and
intertextual references”, Lathey addresses the translation of textual and
visual references in children’s literature. She insists on the sensitive
balance needed to bring an acceptable degree of foreignness into the target
text without losing readers’ comprehension (Bell 1985).  For example, some
proper names, places, and foods may be challenging due to  their difficult
pronunciation, unfamiliarity, or cultural distance for the young audience.  To
accomplish this goal, Lathey suggests the inclusion of contextual explanations
in the prologue, within the text, or in the afterword, footnotes and
glossaries, as well as the occasional omission of incomprehensible cultural
references.  Above all, the author emphasizes translators use rich language
that reflects the gamut of registers and styles of the source text, employing
strategies of intertextuality and intervisuality. Finally, the author makes
noticeable the current asymmetric amount of books translated from English to
other languages compared to the inverse trajectory of books written in other
languages and translated into English. Translators may raise their awareness
of the global dominance of English in children’s literature, which reflect
cultural-specific items widely recognized in popular songs, TV heroes, and
films around the world.  

In Chapter 3, “Translating the visual”, Lathey acknowledges Comenius’ Orbis
Pictus (1659) as the historical antecedent of current picture books, and she
examines picture books, highlighting some of the difficulties in showing the
strong interaction between images and written texts. After analyzing modern
picture books or “albums” and comic strips, the author claims that translating
illustrated books adds one more layer of complexity to the already intricate
relationship between pictures and words. Translators need to overcome a triple
tension: the language of the source, the target texts, and the visual
references.  Lathey uses examples of humor, jokes, and irony to illustrate the
complexity of transferring them to a different language. Likewise, the
frequent occurrences of fresh dialogues that comprise a broad range of social
registers are very difficult to interpret in the target language. Finally,
picture books and comic strips have abundant use of onomatopoeia, which
include strong aural components, with little or no correspondence in the
translated language. Among her list of recommendations, Lathey suggests that
translators read a large number of comic books in the target language to
become more familiar with local jokes, read aloud selected exchanges between
characters to test whether the dialogue sounds authentic, and find standard
forms of onomatopoeia. 

In Chapter 4, “Translating dialogue and dialect,” the author moves from visual
to linguistic components and deepens the understanding of typical dialogues
used in children’s books, such as intensifying language, vocatives,
neologisms, and slang. Fictional children’s and adolescents’ books may include
special greetings, borrowed words, abbreviated terms or ‘clips’, and an
extended range from standard language to regional dialects, idiolects, and
street language. These frequent linguistic markers may represent a challenge
for translators, who may be willing to include slang, for example, without
losing readers’ comprehension. She also encourages working with intermediaries
who are knowledgeable of the source and/or the target culture. Likewise, she
advises translators to examine young people’s talk to maintain the tone and
range of registers of the dialogues. 

In Chapter 5, “Translating sound: Reading aloud, poetry, wordplay, and
onomatopoeias”, Lathey explains how poetry is the most difficult of the
literary arts to translate because it involves metric, rhythm, rhyme,
onomatopoeias, and repetitive forms, among other components. The musicality of
the aural and read-aloud qualities demands translators’ strong command of
poetry in both languages as well as high levels of sensitiveness and
creativity. Translators should be able to recognize idioms and wordplay from
the source text and replace them with equivalent idiomatic expressions and
puns in the target language.  Moreover, they should pay special attention to
the original rhythm and semantic content in case one of these components needs
to be sacrificed in the translation. Translators may use strategies such as
compensation and adaption either to retain the rhyme scheme or respect double
meanings and ambiguities of the source text.  When particular idioms do not
exist in the target language, literal translations are also useful preferably
accompanied by an explanation woven into the text. The author concedes the
possibility of translating nonsense poetry as long as translators assess metre
and rhyme and “keep children’s developmental fascination with the potential of
language in mind” (P. 107).  

Chapter 6 introduces concepts of “Retellings, retranslations and relay
translations,” which are frequently used in current children’s literature.
Lathey defines retellings as common practices of abridgments, adaptations, and
multimedia versions of traditional stories. While these tales are
characterized by crafted texts of complex plot lines and characters,
retellings present simpler plot lines and shallower protagonists. Sometimes,
publishers and editors discuss whether to offer a lighter retelling that may
include more audiences or maintain a stronger connected retelling to the
original fairy tale or popular story (Riordan 2006). Lathey also defines
retranslations, which typically are reduced version of classic tales. The
author mentions well-known examples, such as ‘the Arabian Nights’ and Defoe’s
‘Robinson Crusoe’, both which have been retranslated into lighter versions, in
different languages and time periods. The case of Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
is famous, as the novel has lost its satiric elements and overall strength in
the retranslating process. Likewise, Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’ appears in
retranslations that reduce the author’s genuine intention to a series of
adventure stories and distilled episodes.  Finally, Lathey defines relay
translations, which consists of continuous requests of new versions of old
stories. She explains that demands for these new translations generally obey
to editorial needs, such as incorporating the work of a new illustrator or
replacing archaic language to reach new audiences.

In the last chapter, “Children’s publishing, globalization and the child
reader”, Lathey situates the translating process in a broader context. She
examines current editorial practices and international trends, including
e-books, audio books, films, video games, and multimedia. Moreover, she
addresses practical issues of copyright, contracts, governmental funding, and
intellectual property, noticing that these ‘para-translation’ or extra textual
matters have direct impact on the translator’s job. For example, Lathey points
out how well-known books are quickly transposed into films, games, and
multimedia. This modern phenomenon causes the promotion translators’ teams in
every language, speeding up the lag between the original and the translated
version. However, this international success may also bring negative
consequences, such as a horde of competing pirate and fake translations.  As
an advocate for translators, Lathey proposes concrete actions to protect their
role in current competitive societies. The author encourages translators to be
actively involved, joining  professional associations, creating online
communities, visiting World Children’s Book Fairs and approaching  specialized
publishing companies. To be successful in children’s literature, translators
should gain familiarity with styles, authors, and topics in different
languages and countries, assessing the quality and range of children’s books.

EVALUATION

“Translating Children's Literature” is intended for both novice translators in
general and more experienced professionals, who are new to the field of
children’s literature. Lathey provides a consistent organization along the
chapters, which also follows the general format of the Series “Translation
Practices Explained,” to which the book belongs. Therefore, each chapter
includes defining purposes and constructs, examples that illustrate the main
points, a summary that highlights matters of the specific issue, and a
proposal of suggestions. Moreover, the author concludes each chapter with
discussion points, set of exercises or questions, notes and further readings. 
This systemic organization allows readers to continue the conversation either
in ad-hoc seminars or through independent inquiries.

Lathey offers clear explanations and numerous examples that make the book
accessible to a larger audience, including children’s literature specialists,
storytellers, and teachers interested in reading and children’s literature.
Moreover, the author provides a better understanding of the translating
process, situating translators of children’s literature in the midst of
several tensions. AMong others, she addresses generational conflicts between
adult authors and young readers, complementary messages between written texts
and illustrations, cultural and linguistic interconnectedness, and  practical
decisions in the global literate market. Above all, this book contributes to
the literature on translating children’s literature by providing theoretical
principles as well as practical recommendations useful for further research
and practical applications.  

REFERENCES

Bell, A. (1985). Translator’s notebook: The naming of names. Signal 46: 3-11.

Comenius, J. (1677, first published 1659). Orbis Sensualium Pictus. Trans.
Charles Hoole. London: S. Leacroft

Riordan, J. (2006). Communicating Russian folk-tales. No child is an island:
The case for children’s literature in translation. P. Pinsent, Lichfield, Pied
Piper Publishing. NCRCL Papers 12: 74-87.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Laura Dubcovsky is a lecturer and supervisor in the Teacher Education Program
from The School of Education at the University of California, Davis. She has a
Master’s in Education and a PhD in Spanish linguistics with special emphasis
on second language acquisition. Her areas of interest combine the fields of
language and bilingual education. She is dedicated to the preparation of
prospective bilingual Spanish/English teachers, especially on the use of
Spanish for educational purposes. She collaborates as a reviewer with the
Linguistic list serve and bilingual associations, as well as with teachers,
principals, and specialists at the school district. She has taught a course
that addresses Communicative and Academic Spanish needed in a bilingual
classroom for more than ten years. She also published the article, Functions
of the verb decir (''to say'') in the incipient academic Spanish writing of
bilingual children. Functions of Language, 15(2), 257-280 (2008) and the
chapter, “ Desde California. Acerca de la narración en ámbitos bilingües
(2015)in ¿Cómo aprendemos y cómo enseñamos la narración oral? Pellizzari and
Pitluk (comp). Laura continues working on uses of Spanish by bilingual
teachers, bilingual home/school connections, academic language across school
disciplines and translanguaging in and out of the classroom.





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