When the audience changes

Abstract

Much is expected to change when a work of fiction is translated from one language and culture to another, but the intended reader is not. This paper deals with the issue of the change of the intended reader from adult to child/adolescent in translations of fiction from English into Slovene. The intended reader is most likely to change in translations of comics/cartoons, fantasy, and realistic fiction with child or animal protagonists. The reasons for the change can be both textual and extra-textual: on the one hand, books are categorized as children’s books by libraries, award boards and marketers, as well as by the publisher’s choice of translator, while, on the other hand, individual translation decisions on the microlevel can help move a book from one category to another.

Children’s Literature in Translation

“…The nature and quantity of the editors' changes were not surprising. As our previous research (Zlatnar Moe 2010Zlatnar Moe and Žigon 2020) shows, children's language is frequently 'corrected' to standard forms not only in literature for children, but also when children appear as characters or narrators in literature for adults. As our previous research was done on translations from English, we draw on it to assess whether our Norwegian sample shows signs of any source-related bias.…”