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

Babysitting the Reader

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 Table of Contents

List of tables and graphs ...... 13

Introduction ...... 15

Chapter 1 Contexts and Approaches ...... 23 1.1. What is children’s literature? ...... 23 1.2. Adult literature versus children’s literature: different not lesser ...... 29 1.2.1. Children’s literature and adult literature: differences and similarities ...... 30 1.2.2. Position of children’s literature in the literary field ...... 42 1.3. Relationship between Dutch and Flemish children’s literature ...... 52 1.4. Development of children’s literature in the Netherlands and Flanders ...... 61 1.4.1. Short history of Dutch children’s literature ...... 62 1.4.2. Short history of Flemish children’s literature ...... 66 1.5. Narrative fiction for girls and its position within the broader field of children’s literature ...... 69 1.6. Translation issues related to children’s literature ...... 76 1.7. Conclusions ...... 85

Chapter 2 Patterns in the Production of Dutch and Translated Fiction for Girls ...... 87 2.1. The bibliographical data ...... 87 2.1.1. Sources ...... 87 2.1.2. Data parameters ...... 91

9 2.2. Analysis of patterns in the bibliographical data ...... 93 2.2.1. Development of genre and original Dutch versus translated work ...... 94 2.2.2. Relationship Dutch-Flemish ...... 108 2.2.3. Trends in source languages ...... 117 2.2.4. Relationship between fiction series and single titles ...... 127 2.2.5. Publishers’ profiles ...... 130 2.3. Conclusions ...... 138

Chapter 3 Case Study: Formula Fiction Series ...... 141 3.1. Formula fiction series ...... 141 3.1.1. Defining formula fiction series ...... 141 3.1.2. Fiction series: corpus selection ...... 144 3.2. Translating popular series: hypothesis and methodology ...... 147 3.3. Case study: Flemish publisher Deltas ...... 150 3.3.1. Case study: The Baby-Sitters Club. 1. Kristy’s Great Idea ...... 151 3.3.2. Translating trends in other Deltas fiction series . . . . 161 3.4. Case study: Dutch publisher Kluitman ...... 169 3.4.1. Case study: Sweet Valley High. 3. Playing With Fire ...... 169 3.4.2. Translating trends in other Kluitman fiction series ...... 175 3.5. Conclusions ...... 183

Chapter 4 Case Study: Classic Girl Fiction ...... 185 4.1. Children’s literature classics ...... 185 4.1.1. What are children’s literature classics? ...... 185 4.1.2. Girls’ classics: corpus selection ...... 189 4.2. Translating girls’ classics: hypothesis and methodology ...... 192

10 4.3. Case study: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott ...... 195 4.3.1. Case study: Onder moeders vleugels (transl. Gerda van Cleemput) (TT1) ...... 199 4.3.2. Case study: Onder moeders vleugels (transl. Francine Schregel-Onstein) (TT2) ...... 210 4.3.3. Case study: De vier dochters van Dr March (transl. Attie Spitzer) (TT3) ...... 218 4.4. Conclusions ...... 227

Chapter 5 Case Study: Award Winning Books ...... 229 5.1. Award winning books ...... 229 5.1.1. Whose awards? ...... 229 5.1.2. Award winners: corpus selection ...... 230 5.2. Translating award winners: hypothesis and methodology ...... 233 5.3. Case studies ...... 235 5.3.1. Case study: Jan Hudson’s Sweetgrass (transl. Sybelle Bock) ...... 235 5.3.2. Case study: Patricia MacLachlan’s Sarah, Plain and Tall (transl. Louis Thijssen) ...... 248 5.3.3. Case study: Sandra Chick’s Push Me, Pull Me (transl. Afke Plekker) ...... 257 5.4. Conclusions ...... 267

Final Conclusions ...... 269

Bibliography and References ...... 277

Appendix ...... 299

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