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[Target 20:2] 2008
► pp. 222–248

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Ambiguity translated for children

Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” as a case in point

 | University of Oslo
Published online: 3 November 2008
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20.2.03alv
This article addresses ambiguity in translations for children. ‘Ambiguity’, here understood as something that allows for more than one interpretation, is supposed to be critical in translation for children as it clashes with some mediators’ ideas of what children’s literature is or ought to be. Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” [‘The steadfast tin soldier’] and a sample of twenty-four translations thereof (twelve into Swedish and twelve into Spanish) are used to explore different ways that ambiguity is translated for children. The objective is to determine if and how the tale’s ambiguities are manipulated in the various translations, and thus to initiate a theoretical discussion of ambiguity in translation for children. A difference is established between ‘textually resolvable’ and ‘textually irresolvable’ ambiguities and these two kinds of ambiguity are found to be treated differently in the analyzed sample of translations.
Résumé
Cet article porte sur l’ambiguïté dans des traductions pour enfants. Comprise comme ce qui autorise plus d’une interprétation, la notion d’ambiguïté s’avère problématique dans ce genre de traductions, puisqu’elle va à l’encontre de l’idée partagée par certains médiateurs de ce qu’est ou doit être la littérature pour enfants. Afin d’explorer les différentes manières dont l’ambiguïté est abordée, nous recourons à un échantillon de 24 traductions (12 en suédois et 12 en espagnol) de “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” [‘Le vaillant petit soldat de plomb’], un conte de Hans Christian Andersen. Le but est de déterminer comment les ambiguïtés sont traitées dans les différentes traductions, et corrélativement, d’ouvrir une discussion théorique sur la traduction de l’ambiguïté dans les textes pour la jeunesse. Ayant établi une distinction entre les ambiguïtés qui peuvent être résolues au plan textuel et celles qui ne le peuvent pas, nous constatons que ces deux sortes d’ambiguïtés sont traitées de manière différente dans les échantillons analysés.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat”: A highly ambiguous narrative
  • The twenty-four translations
    • 1.Translations with both resolvable and irresolvable ambiguity
    • 2.Resolvable translations
    • 3.Unambiguous translations
  • Final reflections
  • Notes
  • References
  • Hans Christian Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” by name of translator, editor or publisher
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