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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 69:3 (2023) ► pp.353–374

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Translations of Alice in Wonderland in the Sinosphere

Outward Adventures or homecoming tales?

 | Shenzhen University
Published online: 16 May 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00323.li
Abstract
Despite a substantial body of scholarship on translations into different languages of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, studies of Chinese translations tend to neglect the more recent and shared translational trends across the Chinese-speaking world. While translations of the complete text establish the book’s reputation by faithfully recreating Alice’s outward adventure, partial translations have emerged in a larger number and enjoyed tremendous popularity. Some of these adapt the source story into a tale of homecoming. Comparing five selected translations in detail, I delve into the translation strategies employed in them to find out how and to what extent the original story is changed. The rationales behind these translations and the changes are discussed through the lens of dual poetics, i.e., the role of translation conceived in the target system of children’s literature and the translators’ child image. It finds that the choice between a full or partial rendering of the original is determined by the changing views of translation in the receiving system. At the same time, degrees of adaptation are almost entirely subject to the translators’ multidimensional concepts of children.
Résumé
En dépit d’un nombre important d’études sur les traductions dans différentes langues des Aventures d’Alice au pays des merveilles, les études sur les traductions chinoises ont tendance à négliger les tendances les plus récentes et les plus communes en matière de traduction dans le monde sinophone. Les traductions du texte intégral ont établi la réputation du livre en recréant fidèlement l’aventure d’Alice, mais des traductions partielles sont apparues en grand nombre et jouissent d’une grande popularité. Certaines d’entre elles adaptent l’histoire source pour en faire un récit de retour au foyer. En comparant en détail cinq traductions sélectionnées, l’article se penche sur les stratégies de traduction employées pour découvrir comment et dans quelle mesure l’histoire originale a été modifiée. Les raisons qui sous-tendent ces traductions et ces changements sont examinées sous l’angle d’une double poétique, c’est-à-dire le rôle de la traduction conçu dans le système cible de la littérature pour enfants et l’image de l’enfant conçue par les traducteurs. L’étude montre que le choix entre un rendu complet ou partiel de l’original est déterminé par l’évolution de la vision de la traduction dans le système récepteur. En même temps, les degrés d’adaptation sont presque entièrement soumis aux concepts multidimensionnels de l’enfant chez les traducteurs.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Carroll’s Wonderland
  • Full translations
  • A mildly adapted translation
  • Radically adapted translations
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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