Mediating Practices in Translating Children’s Literature : Tackling Controversial Topics

The goal of the book is to investigate mediating practices used in translation of children’s and young adults’ fiction, focusing on transfer of contents considered controversial or unsuitable for young audiences. It shows how the macabre and cruelty, swear words and bioethical issues have been affected in translation across cultures and times. Analysing selected key texts from Grimms’ tales and Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter to Roald Dahl’s fiction, it shows that mediating approaches, sometimes infringing upon the integrity of source texts, are still part of contemporary translation practices. The volume includes contributions of renowned TS scholars and practitioners, working with a variety of approaches from descriptive translation studies and literary criticism to translation pedagogy and museum studies.

"The angle of looking into the topics is fresh and acute and I whole-heartedly recommend the book for readers from scholars to parents and school-teachers, for all adults taking a special interest in and cherishing children and their literature".

Riitta Oittinen, Tampere University, Finland