But what are the
difficulties associated with translating texts aimed at children and young
people?
The field of literary
translation is very broad and also divides into specific subcategories:
sentimental literature, essays and children's literature, etc. The latter
category is a genre in itself because it meets content requirements. But
it is also and above all a requirement in linguistic and stylistic
terms. Indeed, the literature for young people includes distinct genres according to the age
groups, allowing for better targeting of supply. An author writing books
for teenagers will not necessarily be able to create stories tailored to
preschoolers. Similarly, a literary translator may specialize in translating teen news or books for young children.
The characteristics of
these texts are obvious and it is easy to understand why this literature has so
many "specialisations": a novel adapted to the 12-14 age group must
be read easily and offer a vocabulary reflecting the talk of a book for
young children should offer simple or didacticlanguage, often in the form of poetry or nursery
rhyme. No element of children's literature is left to chance: the names of the characters, for
example, are often chosen by the author according to his
characteristics. Frogs often have names containing the GR - or CR
syllable, which recalls the sound they produce. In novels aimed at the
greatest, the characters "bad" or nonconformist are often called
Alex, who comes from a-lex,"without
faith or law".
What are the
translator's concerns?
A careful translator must take all these peculiarities into account in
order to translate them into the target language. Ditto for toponyms. Let's
talk about a well-known example: Mouseton. This
term is translated into Italian by Topolinia,a
purely imaginary term that represents both the "city" and its
inhabitants (topolini: mouse). It is not always possible to find such a
direct transposition. In some cases, other strategies are required.
For example, the
title The Croaky Trio would
not have been evocative enough in Italian in its literal translation: "The
Croaky Trio". The translator therefore introduced an onomatopoeia and
opted for "The Cra cra cra cra cra trio", which allows to preserve
the original assonance while differing in its form. The translation of onomatopoeias alone deserves an entire chapter. Not everyone
knows that even animal calls vary according to languages. In Italian, cats
do MIAO, in England they do MIEW and so on. The translator must therefore know these various"animal languages",at least these linguistic conventions. Indeed, it
must not destabilize the young reader by using onomatopoeias that he does not
recognize.
What is the
boundary between the translator and the author?
The work required for
these transpositions is so extensive that authors frequently choose to
translate their own creations. Otherwise, publishing houses use other
authors rather than translatorsto meet the requirements for lexical
re-elaboration. This is the case, for example, ofUmberto Eco, a world-renowned writer and translator. Author
of the valuable manual "Saying almost the same thing", he analyzes
the types of intervention of the translator.
It
can therefore be said, without falling into an excessive apology of our
profession, that literary translators are partly authors. Moreover, if they specialize in
children's literature, they must necessarily know the world of "under
16s". They must be both pedagogues and childish, and behave as
teachers and playmates... too complicated? For some, yes, but not for
everyone! Professionals who opt for this activity do so above all BY
PASSION, and the results are there! contact with us for professional translation services
