Babysitting the Reader

Home , Formula fiction

European literature for children and young adults in an inter-cultural context 1

Translating English Narrative Fiction for Girls into Dutch (1946-1995)

von Mieke K.T Desmet

1. Auflage

Babysitting the Reader – Desmet schnell und portofrei erhältlich bei beck-shop.de DIE FACHBUCHHANDLUNG

Peter Lang Bern 2007

Verlag C.H. Beck im Internet: www.beck.de ISBN 978 3 03911 147 3

Inhaltsverzeichnis: Babysitting the Reader – Desmet Introduction

Despite its low status, the task of writing or translating children’s literature is a complex one requiring the simultaneous appeal to two audiences: adults, who are in a position to make judgements about the work’s quality, and children, the implied readers. Children’s literature is also caught between two semiotic sys- tems: the educational one, which judges the work according to its pedagogical values, and the literary, which applies aesthetic values. Although it does not belong to the canon of “high” literature, it has its own canon, determined by adults, and its set of disapproved non-canonical literature which nevertheless often competes quite successfully for children’s attention (Anderson 2000: 276).

This extract from the children’s literature entry in the Encyclopedia of Literary Translation Into English (Classe 2000) deftly summarizes the many aspects which are seen to affect children’s literature1 and its translation. As will be discussed below, the book will attempt to link the general characteristics of children’s literature, i. e. its educational and literary qualities, and its stratification into sub-genres of differential status to translating practice. The main aim of this thesis is to try to answer the question: How is children’s literature translated? More particularly: Is there a specific way of translating children’s literature which can be related to a concept of children’s literature as different from other kinds of literature? And even more specifically: Is it possible to identify consistent patterns in the transla-

1 In English the term ‘children’s literature’ is used most often, although one can also find the term ‘juvenile literature’ or ‘young adult literature’ (YA). In Dutch, the terms ‘kinderliteratuur’ and ‘jeugdliteratuur’ are commonly used. Rita Ghesquiere (1982; 1993: 10) points out that ‘kinderliteratuur’ refers to that literature aimed at children under 12, while ‘jeugdliteratuur’ has both a narrow and a wider sense. In the narrow sense, ‘jeugdliteratuur’ refers to literature aimed at twelve to sixteen-year-old children, while in the wider sense it embraces the whole age bracket from zero to sixteen and thus incorporates all ‘kinderliteratuur’. Furthermore, the term ‘adolescentenliteratuur’ may be used to refer to literature for the over fifteens which corresponds to the English ‘young adult literature’. Since I am writing in English I will use the term ‘children’s literature’ as an overall term to denote the whole age group of zero to eighteen. In Dutch, I prefer to use the joint term ‘kinder- en jeugdliteratuur’ to refer to the whole range of age groups.

15 tion of children’s literature which may be linked to the educational principles which inform writing for children and/or the status of the text? Children’s literature is usually defined in opposition to adult literature. Whereas aesthetic considerations dominate present-day discussions of adult literature a major concern in children’s literature discussions is its pedagogical function. Many critics have argued that a central issue in children’s literature is the education and socialization of its intended audience and hence they have identified as the distinguishing feature of children’s literature the fact that it combines literary with educational goals (Bottigheimer 1998; Hunt 1995b; Stephens 1992). The tension between didactic and literary aspirations also affects the translation of children’s literature (Kling- berg 1986). Different, and often contradictory, goals not only inform the choice of children’s texts for translation but also help determine the shape which the translation of a particular book into the target cul- ture2 takes. The educational concerns governing children’s literature may influence the translation of children’s literature in different ways, and they may include practices in which the foreign is explicitly introduced to children as well as their opposite, in which the foreign is avoided either because adults fear children will not be able to understand or because they consider the material to be inap- propriate for children and not in line with their values, i.e. the values of the receiving culture. Although boundaries between adult and children’s literature are not always clearly drawn, children’s literature as a whole occupies a separate and marginal position in the wider literary field (Bottig- heimer 1998; Hunt 1998; Ghesquiere 1982; 1993). Children’s literature is often considered to be of less significance and to have lower status than adult literature (Hunt 1995c; Ghesquiere 1992; Holtrop 1986; Shavit 1986). In turn, several critics have argued that children’s literature itself can be stratified according to a variety of criteria,

2 In this dissertation the following terms and abbreviations will be employed: source text (ST) will be used to refer to a text which is being translated and which originates in a foreign culture, the source culture (SC), while target text (TT) is used to refer to the ST’s translation into the receiving or target culture (TC).

16 resulting in different types of texts to which critics attribute distinct value and status within the field (O’Sullivan 2000; Hunt 1998; Shavit 1986). Based on gender constructions pertaining to the intended reader it is possible to identify and define narrative fiction for girls as a sub-category of children’s literature. This sub-category, the focus of the present investigation, is often considered to be of low status within the children’s literature field (Foster & Simons 1995; Lierop-Debrauwer 1994; Reynolds 1990). Moreover, girls’ fiction can itself be further subdivided employing textual and other criteria. Within girls’ fiction adult critics value certain text types and consider them to be of high status whereas they judge other types to be of less value and to possess low status. It is worth asking if the low status of children’s literature as a whole has a bearing on the way source texts are translated. Zohar Shavit claims that the peripheral position and low status of children’s literature within the literary polysystem means that translators can permit themselves many more liberties with their source texts (Shavit 1986: 112). In this research project I intend to put this claim to the test. I propose to investigate whether and to what extent the stratification of texts according to status within children’s literature, and particularly within girls’ fiction, plays a role in the way texts are translated. I want to consider how educational concerns combine with relative status of particular texts and sub-genres in the field to determine the form which translations of girls’ fiction from English into Dutch in the period 1946–1995 take. In order to answer this question I propose the following: I will discuss what children’s literature is and how it relates to adult literature with which it is most frequently contrasted, and provide an indication of the issues and de- bates which concern the concept of children’s literature. I will also provide a short history of the field in the Netherlands and Flanders and define the sub-genre of narrative fiction for girls. From the ideas surrounding the translation of children’s literature I distil a number of concepts and establish a research model to undertake the analysis of the narratives for the different case studies. A key initial task consists in gathering lists of titles to study. The corpus is extracted from a comprehensive bibliographical overview of how much original Dutch work and how much translated fiction is available in the sub-genre narrative fiction for girls in the period

17 under investigation. Patterns of literary importation are discussed and examined. The evidence shows that translated work makes up a large proportion of girls’ fiction. Analyses are then carried out on selected titles and discussed in the case study chapters; the selection will be guided by the concept of the differential status of the source texts. Within narrative fiction for girls it is possible to distinguish between text types which demonstrate particular textual characteristics and also perform different functions in the field. Based on the presence of specific textual features in a narrative and on the function of the text type it belongs to, adults assign esteem: some text types are judged to have little value and are therefore considered to be of low status, while others are perceived to be of higher quality and are granted high status. This dissertation will attempt to show how distinct educational goals inform the translation strategies used to bring text types with perceived differential status into the target culture. The views on the different functions and perceived status of certain text types inform the attitudes towards their translation, the range of texts translated, and the particular translation strategies applied. I have distinguished between three types of texts with different status within the field based on distinctions made by various critics which to some extent overlap (see O’Sullivan 2000: 131; 190; Hunt 1998: 25–26; Shavit 1986: 63–64). Much work in children’s literature is of a prescriptive nature indicating what is considered to be ‘good’ for the child. I am aware of the varieties of ways in which children’s literature can be ‘good’, following Peter Hunt’s observation that

what is regarded as a ‘good’ book might be ‘good’ in the sense which the cur- rently dominant literary/academic establishment prescribes; ‘good’ in terms of effectiveness for education, language acquisition, or socialization/acculturiza- tion or for entertainment for a specific child or group of children in general or specific circumstances; or ‘good’ in some moral or religious or political sense; or ‘good’ in a therapeutic sense (Hunt 1996a: 2).

The distinctions between text types and their status used in this thesis are mainly based on literary principles. However, the focus within this dissertation is on how the status concept is used within the field and how it affects translation rather than on an evaluation of the text types and the way they are translated.

18 Children’s literature is characterized by asymmetry between its intended audience, i.e. children, and its producers, distributors and critics, i.e. adults. The evaluation of text types and their relative status is thus determined by adults. At the low spectrum of the status scale are formula fiction series which are generally regarded negatively by adults. This type of text distinctly addresses the child reader only and its main aim is to provide pleasure to the reader. Hence, another property of this type of text is its commercial character. The hypothesis in the present thesis is that texts of this type will be translated in such a way as to safeguard the ready intelligibility and ac- cessibility of the text to its audience first and foremost. Translations of formula fiction may thus demonstrate invasive and, if the need arises, domesticating procedures. At the other end of the scale we encounter texts which are val- ued highly by adults and are appreciated by them. In order to identify texts of this type I have used the concept of the literary award in the source culture. I have used several awards, but the focus is on awards given by adults as these are considered more valuable and enjoy higher prestige than those awarded by children, especially since adults and children tend to select different kinds of texts for their awards. A book which has received a literary award by adults is seen to have been critically acclaimed by them. The hypothesis for the translation of this type of text is that it will probably try to bring both the literary experience and some sense of the foreignness of the text to the child and will demand more effort from the child reader.

A third type of text is that of the classic girls’ book, i. e. a text which has somehow stood the test of time, which is and remains popular with its intended audience over several generations but which is also appreciated by adults, as evidenced in the increased critical attention devoted to it. For example, Little Women has moved from being perceived as popular literature to being hailed a classic and has received more critical attention over time. Classic texts take up a special position in the field, but their status is unstable and reflects their hybrid nature as being both popular with children and critically acclaimed by adults. The hypothesis for the translation of classics, then, is that there will be a greater degree of variety in the ways these texts are translated. This research places itself in a tradition of target-oriented and systemic approaches to translation within the field of contemporary

19 translation studies3. The approach to translation underlying this book aims to be descriptive and analytical, trying to describe and explain what happens in the translations and why certain shifts take place rather than considering which translations are ‘good’. The interaction of educational, commercial, literary and status concerns in the translation of children’s literature is likely to result in complex translation strategies. Therefore, a search for patterns in the translations is undertaken in order to shed light on this interplay. The main ideas concerning the translation of children’s literature and the various categories used to describe and analyse actual translation practices in the texts selected for further study have been taken from critics working in the field of children’s literature. Although these critics and their work on the translation of children’s literature is to varying degrees prescriptive (see Oittinen 1993; Klingberg 1986; Bravo-Villa- sante 1978 among others), many of the concepts and strategies which they have identified as important in the translation of children’s literature can be employed in a descriptive and analytical manner. A starting point is the discussion of the educational goals which may govern the translation of children’s literature. Göte Klingberg has identified four such educational purposes: bringing texts of literary merit to children, introducing the foreign to children, bringing children something they can understand and educating them in the right values (Klingberg 1986: 10). My interest is in seeing which of these goals is more dominant for texts of different status. The view which attributes a positive role to translated children’s literature as introducing the foreign may lead to a translation strategy in which the source culture and its idiosyncrasy is retained as much as possible or elaborated and explicated, whereas the perception of a children’s text as aiming primarily at bringing pleasure may posit the limited cognitive abilities of the reader as prime consideration in the translation. Children are in the process of learning to become proficient readers of literature. For child readers any new text, whether translated or not, brings something foreign, in the sense of conceptually foreign, not necessarily culturally foreign (O’Sullivan 2000: 228). Child readers may experience otherness both in translated as well as in

3 For a detailed analysis and review of the main tenets and the various approaches within this part of translation studies see Hermans 1999.

20 original fiction. The foreignness or otherness of translated texts, however, is most clearly perceived in the culturally specific elements. A major focus of the analyses will thus be the foreign cultural elements which may pose particular difficulties for understanding by its intended target audience. Comprehensive investigation of the textual changes taking place when children’s narratives move from the source culture to the receiving target culture should reveal the underlying interaction between the various concerns dominating the production of children’s literature. Translation studies have not paid much attention to children’s literature, and equally children’s literary studies tend to focus mainly on original literature. The purpose of this study is then to contribute to translation studies and to children’s literary studies. There is no detailed overview of Dutch children’s literature in the twentieth cen- tury and none for the sub-genre narrative fiction for girls. The establishment of the bibliographical corpus is a step in the direction of filling in the gap in the knowledge of the literary production for girls in the post-war period. The large proportion of imported read- ing material in Dutch fiction for girls also validates further investigation. Furthermore, the study of translations of narrative fiction for girls with different status promises to bring an additional di- mension to understanding literary practices in fiction for girls which may also feature in original Dutch literature for girls. These results may also offer insights into literary practices in the wider field of children’s literature. Equally, the study of translation patterns may offer insights in the differences and similarities between translation for adults and that for children. The dissertation is organized as follows. Chapter 1, which is con- cerned primarily with issues of definition and methodology, intro- duces such elements as the relation between adult and children’s literature, the educational, literary and publishing aspects of children’s literature, a short history of Dutch children’s literature, the concept of narrative fiction for girls and views on the translation of children’s literature. The status and internal stratification of children’s literature is a main point of interest. The examination of views on translation and categories to describe and analyse translated texts in the children’s literary field provide a template for the discussion and interpretation of translation strategies in the selected case study texts.

21 Chapter 2 first provides a discussion of the sources used to establish a bibliographical database of translated and original Dutch narrative fiction for girls published between 1946 and 1995. The database is interrogated in various ways, including among others the relationship between Dutch and Flemish work, the proportion of fiction series and a number of publishers’ profiles. The broad pic- ture sketched in this chapter is then used to make an informed choice of texts for detailed analysis in the following three chapters. In the third chapter I look at the translation of low status texts, in the form of popular formula series fiction. Texts of this type are usually considered negatively by the adult critic, yet are enthusias- tically received by children. Perceived to be at the low end of the status scale, the analysis of this type of narratives will allow a com- parison with texts of high status discussed in Chapter 5. Through detailed analysis of several source and target text pairs I try to throw light on the strategies and objectives of translation of popular children’s texts, and on the role of literary and educational concerns. The narrative I consider in Chapter 4 belongs to the so-called classics of children’s literature type, which often takes the form of a series, yet is quite different from the formula fiction series discussed in Chapter 3. Classics frequently fit the Bildungsroman type, are less repetitive or formulaic and take their eponymous heroine through different stages of life. Classics are considered to have ambiguous status as they were often popular texts when first published, but have gained patina along the way. I discuss several translations of the girls’ classic Little Women which has been rendered many times into Dutch by various translators. Chapter 5 provides insights into the translation of children’s literature which is critically acclaimed and approved by adults as being “quality” literature. I have considered source texts which have received an award of excellence by adults as a sign of high status or canonized literature. The benefit of the source text having received an award may well be commercially exploited by the target text publisher. The conclusion provides a summarizing discussion of the main findings of the dissertation. The results from the various case studies are brought together to reveal the many, and often contradictory, strategies and aims that govern the translation of children’s literature in relation to issues raised in the background and in the bibliographical chapter.