Silenced in translation

Originally marketed for children, Elvira Lindo’s Manolito series has established itself in Spain as a classic work of comic fiction that transcends age barriers. The comically risqué and colloquial narratives were soon translated into French for Gallimard’s Jeunesse collection, and sold well. Translations into many languages followed, with mixed results: though some were quite successful (e.g., Japanese, Farsi), quite a few others were not well-received (English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Italian), and some likely markets either passed on translating the works (Sweden) or did so only much later on (the United States). This relative lack of success cannot be reduced to the simple idea of different national styles of humor. Rather, various translation agents silenced overtones of Manolito’s voice for many different reasons. We see among other things a translator’s failure to translate Manolito’s quasi-spoken voice, a publisher’s desire to standardize Manolito’s voice for a large market, the translator’s or the publisher’s desire to rewrite the authorial and narratorial ethical voices, and the translator’s or publisher’s fear that some readers will think that their children will not understand that Manolito’s voice pertains to a work of fiction.