Wow! eBook
Whose Story? Translating the Verbal and the Visual in Literature for Young Readers
Author(s): Riitta Oittinen (Author, Editor)
- Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Publication Date: 25 Sept. 2008
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 145 pages
- ISBN-10: 1847185479
- ISBN-13: 9781847185471
Book Description
This book is based on the discussions carried out in two seminars on the translation of children’s literature, coordinated by Maria González Davies and led by Riitta Oittinen. The main focus finally revolved around four questions: a) Tackling the challenges posed by translating children’s literature, both picturebooks and books with illustrations, and the range of strategies available to solve specific issues; b) the special characteristics involved in reading aloud, its emotional dimension, and the sphere it occupies between private and public reading; c) the interpretation and manipulation of child images; and, d) the role of the translator, publishers and mediators as active or passive agents whose decisions may finally mirror the images projected by the authors of the source books. This volume is also professionally-oriented and presents examples that underline the interaction between theory and practice. The topics range from Bible translation, to translating the classics, such as Beatrix Potter’s tales and fairytales, fantasy worlds for young adults as depicted in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, or novels such as those by Christine Nöstlinger, as well as stories with a psychological and social function such as the African war tales. Finally, it includes didactic applications that help enhance an awareness of the issues involved.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Maria González Davies is senior lecturer at the Modern Languages Department of the Faculty of Education at the University Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain. Her main research and publications are related to translation training, the role of the L1 and translation in foreign language learning, and children’s and young adult’s literature in translation. Riitta Oittinen is adjunct professor at the Universities of Helsinki and Tampere (Finland) and senior lecturer at the University of Tampere, as well as a writer and illustrator. She is also the author of more than 200 publications (books, articles, translations, films, illustrations) and specializes in translating picturebooks and children’s literature, especially the verbal, the visual and the auditive (reading aloud).
