Children's Literature Across Space and Time the Challenges Of
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Children's Literature across Space and Time The Challenges of Translating Beatrix Potter’s Tales into Romanian Dana-Mihaela Cocargeanu, MA Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies Dublin City University Supervisors: Dr. Eithne O’Connell, Dr. Áine McGillicuddy January 2015 I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy, is entirely my own work, and that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original and does not, to the best of my knowledge, breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others, save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: Candidate ID number: 11212297 Date: ii This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend James Moulder (1937-2014), who suggested researching the translation of Beatrix Potter’s tales and supported me in so many ways during this project. May God rest your soul, James. I will always be grateful for your help and your kind friendship. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank God and the Theotokos for helping me complete this project and for giving me the opportunity to live in a beautiful and friendly country such as Ireland, and to meet several unforgettable people here. I also want to thank my academic supervisors, Dr. Eithne O’Connell and Dr. Áine McGillicuddy, who provided invaluable guidance regarding my research and were also extremely patient, supportive and thoughtful. I am grateful to the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies in DCU for the financial assistance offered for this research project. Much appreciated is the availability of several Romanian scholars to talk to me about their fields of research and to provide me with relevant materials: Prof. Mihaela Cernăuţi-Gorodeţchi, PhD, and Prof. Georgiana Lungu-Badea, PhD, Dr. Alina Pelea, Dr. Nicoleta Roman, Dr. Veronica Gheorghe, Dr. Luminiţa Dumănescu and Dr. Gabriela Stoica. Many thanks also to Ioana Bâldea-Constantinescu, the translator of Beatrix Potter’s tales, who agreed to be interviewed about her work. I am grateful to the Beatrix Potter scholar, Judy Taylor, for her encouragement at the early stages of my research and for helping me contact Penguin Books; and to Millie Lovett, Penguin’s Rights Assistant, who answered my questions regarding the publication of the latest Romanian edition of Potter’s tales. I also appreciate the help of Dr. Graínne Toomey, who discussed Potter’s tales with me and offered valuable insights about them. Finally, I am deeply grateful to all those close ones without whose affection and practical support this challenging undertaking would have been much more difficult: my parents, Paraschiva and Gheorghe Cocargeanu, my sister, Andreea Ichim, and my little niece, Mara Ichim; my friends, Cristina Buşcă and her family, Ana Burlacu, Cristina Bucur and Ingrid Lewis; and Akisato Suzuki, who made Irish weather sunny for me in the past two years. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………iv Table of contents……….……………………………………………………………v List of abbreviations……...…………………………………………………………x Abstract…………………..………………………………………………………….xi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1 1.1. Background………………………………………………………………………1 1.2. Research question and working definitions……………………………………...3 1.3. Theoretical framework and methodological approach…………………………..4 1.4. Thesis structure…………………………………………………………………..6 1.5. Children’s Literature Translation Studies and translating for children………….8 1.6. The challenges of translating children’s literature……………………………...18 1.6.1. Extra-textual challenges……………………………………………………18 1.6.1.1. Selection of source languages and texts….……………………………18 1.6.1.2. Other publishing issues……………….……………………………….21 1.6.1.3. Collaboration between the producers of the translated books….……..22 1.6.2. Textual challenges…………………………………………………………23 1.6.2.1. Cultural references…………………………………….………………23 1.6.2.2. Proper names……………………………………….………………….27 1.6.2.3. Visual elements………………………………………………………..29 1.6.2.4. Read-aloud qualities and readability…………………………………..32 1.6.2.5. Stylistic features……………………………………………………….34 1.6.2.6. Humour………………………………………………………………..36 1.6.2.7. Intertextuality………………………………………………………….37 1.6.2.8. Verbal paratexts……………………………………………………….38 1.6.2.9. Retranslating…………………………………………………………..40 1.6.2.10. Narrative tenses and grammatical gender……………………………41 1.6.3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………...42 v Chapter 2 THE SOURCE CONTEXT: BEATRIX POTTER’S LIFE AND TIMES………………………………………………………………………………44 2.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..44 2.2. Potter’s times…………………………………………………………………...46 2.2.1. Victorian and Edwardian Britain…………………………………………..46 2.2.1.1. Economic, social and political developments…………………………46 2.2.1.2. Religious life…………………………………………………………..48 2.2.1.3. The development of science…………………………………………...50 2.2.1.4. Gendered discourses and practices, and the situation of women…...…51 2.2.2. Children and education…………………………………………………….53 2.2.2.1. Children and images of childhood…………………………………….53 2.2.2.2. Educational philosophies and practices ……………………………….56 2.2.3. Children’s literature………………………………………………………..60 2.2.3.1. From moral tales to fantasies………………………………………….60 2.2.3.2. The animal story………………………………………………………64 2.2.3.3. Book illustration……………………………………………………….66 2.3. Potter’s life……………………………………………………………………...69 2.3.1. Childhood and education…………………………………………………..69 2.3.1.1. Family background and early childhood………………………………69 2.3.1.2. Relationship with children’s literature………………………………...70 2.3.1.3. Education……………………………………………………………...72 2.3.1.4. Relationship with the natural world, visual art and science…………...74 2.3.2. Adulthood………………………………………………………………….75 2.3.2.1. Gendered experiences in late Victorian and Edwardian times………..75 2.3.2.2. Scientific activity……………………………………………………...78 2.3.2.3. Artistic and writing career…………………………………………….79 2.3.2.4. Publishing-related business……………………………………………81 2.4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...82 vi Chapter 3 THE SOURCE TEXTS AND THEIR TRANSLATION……………85 3.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..85 3.2. Potter’s picture books…………………………………………………………..88 3.2.1. Re-conceptualising “paratexts”………………………….…………………88 3.2.2. Potter’s illustrations and their relationships with the verbal text…………..89 3.2.3. Other syntextual elements………….………………………………………96 3.2.3.1. Covers, jacket and endpapers…………………………………………96 3.2.3.2. Front and end matter…………………………………………………..98 3.2.3.3. Format……………………………………………………………….100 3.2.3.4. Typography………………………………………………………..…101 3.2.3.5. Modified editions of Potter’s tales…………………………………...101 3.2.4. Verbal characteristics……………………………………………………..102 3.2.4.1. Read-aloud qualities and readability (comprehensibility)…………...102 3.2.4.2. Stylistic features……………………………………………………..106 3.2.4.3. Humour………………………………………………………………108 3.2.4.4. Intertextuality and intratextuality……….……………………..…….110 3.2.4.5. Proper names…………………………………………………………111 3.2.5. Ideological aspects………………………………………………………..114 3.3. Translations of Potter’s tales……..……………………………………………116 3.3.1. Translations of Potter’s tales to date……...………………………………116 3.3.2. The challenges of translating Potter’s tales……..………………………..117 3.3.2.1. Extra-textual challenges……………………………………………...118 3.3.2.2. Textual challenges…………………………………………………...120 3.4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….124 vii Chapter 4 THE ROMANIAN TRANSLATION CONTEXT………………….125 4.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………125 4.2. Romania – past and present…………………………………………………...126 4.2.1. Romanian history and culture…………………………………………….126 4.2.2. Economic and social developments………………………………………136 4.2.3. Gender and the situation of women………………………………………139 4.3. Children and education………………………………………………………..141 4.3.1. Children in contemporary Romania………………………………………141 4.3.2. Conceptions of childhood…………………………………………………147 4.3.3. Educational practices and philosophies…………………………………..150 4.4. Children’s literature…………………………………………………………...156 4.4.1. Conceptions of children’s literature………………………………………156 4.4.2. The historical development and present state of children’s literature……159 4.5. The Romanian language………………………………………………………175 4.5.1. Main features……………………………………………………………..175 4.5.2. The influence of English on contemporary Romanian………………...…178 4.6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….180 Chapter 5 THE CHALLENGES OF TRANSLATING BEATRIX POTTER’S TALES INTO ROMANIAN………………………………...……………...……181 5.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………181 5.2. Romanian translations of Potter’s tales………………………………………..182 5.3. Extra-textual challenges……………………………………………………….184 5.3.1. Selecting Potter for publication in Romania and selecting Romania as a market for Potter translations……………………………………..…………….184 5.3.2. Selecting tales and book formats…………………………………………188 5.3.3. Marketing the translated books…………………………………………...190 5.3.4. Assessing reception……………………………………………………….194 viii 5.4. Textual challenges…………………………………………………………….200 5.4.1. Two general challenges …………………………………………………...200 5.4.2. Visual syntextual elements……………………………………………….201 5.4.3. Verbal syntextual elements……………………………………………….206 5.4.4. Culture-specific items…………………………………………………….210 5.4.5. Proper names……………………………………………………………...217 5.4.6. Challenging vocabulary…………………………………………………..221 5.4.7. Read-aloud qualities………………………………………………………224 5.4.8. Stylistic features…………………………………………………………..230 5.4.9.