From Prototype and Skopos Theories to Corpus-Based and Audiovisual Approaches in Children’s Literature Translation

Abstract

For a long time an unexploited field of scientific research, Children’s Literature Translation Studies deserve a thorough examination primarily due to the current world-wide publishing boom of children’s texts. The dominance of the literary productions of the Anglo-American environment determines the overwhelming number of translations in different cultures and languages. Most translation theories which have been traditionally analyzed and applied to what is generally assumed to be adult literature should be revisited and reconsidered in the case of children’s books with the aim of helping translators and ensuring the efficiency of the translation process. From this perspective, the present article focuses upon the influence of the prototype theory upon children’s literature translation strategies, the importance of the double addressee in the skopos theory, the advantages of the corpus-based approach and the adaptation to the changing landscapes of children’s texts intermediated by the audiovisual approach. Since contemporary translators of children’s literary texts are facing the imperative of tight deadlines, they need to be clearly aware of their translation commission trying to fulfill the expectations of the potential target readers. The aforementioned theories and approaches pave the way to new discoveries with respect to the challenge of translating children’s texts which share both similarities and differences with adult literature.