Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2018 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Ilha do Desterro |
Texto Completo: | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103 |
Resumo: | Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is arguably about the history of theUnited States in terms of slavery and race relations. How, then, can this be translated to another language and culture, especially one with a very different background in regard to minorities? And in particular, how can this be translated for children, who have less knowledge about history and slavery than adult readers? In this essay, I analyse how Twain’s novel has been translated to Swedish. I study 15 translations. Surprisingly, I find that instead of retaining Twain’s even-handed portrayal of the two races and his acceptance of a wide variety of types of Americans, Swedish translators tend to emphasise the foreignness, otherness, and lack of education of the black characters. In other words, although the American setting is kept, the translators nevertheless give Swedish readers a very different understanding of theUnited Statesand slavery than that which Twain strove to give his American readers. This may reflect the differences in immigration and cultural makeup inSwedenversus inAmerica, but it radically changes the book as well as child readers’ understanding of what makes a nation. |
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Translating national history for children: a case study of a classicTraduzindo história nacional para crianças: um estudo de caso de um clássicoMark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is arguably about the history of theUnited States in terms of slavery and race relations. How, then, can this be translated to another language and culture, especially one with a very different background in regard to minorities? And in particular, how can this be translated for children, who have less knowledge about history and slavery than adult readers? In this essay, I analyse how Twain’s novel has been translated to Swedish. I study 15 translations. Surprisingly, I find that instead of retaining Twain’s even-handed portrayal of the two races and his acceptance of a wide variety of types of Americans, Swedish translators tend to emphasise the foreignness, otherness, and lack of education of the black characters. In other words, although the American setting is kept, the translators nevertheless give Swedish readers a very different understanding of theUnited Statesand slavery than that which Twain strove to give his American readers. This may reflect the differences in immigration and cultural makeup inSwedenversus inAmerica, but it radically changes the book as well as child readers’ understanding of what makes a nation.A novela clássica de Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn é indiscutivelmente sobre a história dos Estados Unidos em termos de escravidão e relações raciais. Como, então, isso pode ser traduzido para outra língua e cultura, especialmente uma com um fundo muito diferente em relação às minorias? E em particular, como isso pode ser traduzido para crianças, que têm menos conhecimento sobre história e escravidão do que leitores adultos? Neste ensaio, analiso como o romance de Twain foi traduzido para o sueco. Eu estudo 15 traduções. Surpreendentemente, acho que, em vez de reter o retrato paralelo de Twain das duas raças e sua aceitação de uma grande variedade de tipos de americanos, suecos os tradutores tendem a enfatizar a estranheza, a alteridade e a falta de educação dos personagens negros. Em outras palavras, embora o cenário americano seja mantido, os tradutores, no entanto, dão aos leitores suecos uma compreensão muito diferente dos Estados Unidos e da escravidão do que isso que Twain se esforçou para dar aos seus leitores americanos. Isso pode refletir as diferenças em imigração e maquiagem cultural na Suécia, na América, mas altera radicalmente o livro, bem como a compreensão dos leitores infantis sobre o que faz uma nação.UFSC2018-01-15info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p10310.5007/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies; Vol. 71 No. 1 (2018): The uses of parallel corpora in the stylistic analysis of films and literature for children; 103-116Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies; v. 71 n. 1 (2018): The uses of parallel corpora in the stylistic analysis of films and literature for children; 103-1162175-80260101-4846reponame:Ilha do Desterroinstname:Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)instacron:UFSCenghttps://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103/35854Copyright (c) 2018 BJ Epsteininfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessEpstein, B.J.2018-02-08T13:20:03Zoai:periodicos.ufsc.br:article/51822Revistahttp://www.periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterroPUBhttps://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/oaiilha@cce.ufsc.br||corseuil@cce.ufsc.br||ilhadodesterro@gmail.com2175-80260101-4846opendoar:2018-02-08T13:20:03Ilha do Desterro - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic Traduzindo história nacional para crianças: um estudo de caso de um clássico |
title |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
spellingShingle |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic Epstein, B.J. |
title_short |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
title_full |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
title_fullStr |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
title_sort |
Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic |
author |
Epstein, B.J. |
author_facet |
Epstein, B.J. |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Epstein, B.J. |
description |
Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is arguably about the history of theUnited States in terms of slavery and race relations. How, then, can this be translated to another language and culture, especially one with a very different background in regard to minorities? And in particular, how can this be translated for children, who have less knowledge about history and slavery than adult readers? In this essay, I analyse how Twain’s novel has been translated to Swedish. I study 15 translations. Surprisingly, I find that instead of retaining Twain’s even-handed portrayal of the two races and his acceptance of a wide variety of types of Americans, Swedish translators tend to emphasise the foreignness, otherness, and lack of education of the black characters. In other words, although the American setting is kept, the translators nevertheless give Swedish readers a very different understanding of theUnited Statesand slavery than that which Twain strove to give his American readers. This may reflect the differences in immigration and cultural makeup inSwedenversus inAmerica, but it radically changes the book as well as child readers’ understanding of what makes a nation. |
publishDate |
2018 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2018-01-15 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103 10.5007/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103 |
url |
https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103 |
identifier_str_mv |
10.5007/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2018v71n1p103/35854 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 BJ Epstein info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 BJ Epstein |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
UFSC |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
UFSC |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies; Vol. 71 No. 1 (2018): The uses of parallel corpora in the stylistic analysis of films and literature for children; 103-116 Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies; v. 71 n. 1 (2018): The uses of parallel corpora in the stylistic analysis of films and literature for children; 103-116 2175-8026 0101-4846 reponame:Ilha do Desterro instname:Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) instacron:UFSC |
instname_str |
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) |
instacron_str |
UFSC |
institution |
UFSC |
reponame_str |
Ilha do Desterro |
collection |
Ilha do Desterro |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Ilha do Desterro - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
ilha@cce.ufsc.br||corseuil@cce.ufsc.br||ilhadodesterro@gmail.com |
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