Translation Research Report Of Children’s Literature "The Wizard Of Oz"

Children’s literature not only shares generality with literature in general, but also has itsown specialty. Therefore, in translating children’s literature, the translators should not onlyfollow the common theoretical principles of literature translation, but also abide by thespecific requirements, methods and skills of children’s literature. The translation of children’sliterature should take the language of the children into consideration. The translator shoulduse as simple language as they can. It is especially true for the preschool children who are inthe threshold stage of language ability development. The translation should be of easy andsimple oral words because big, formal words will make the translation difficult for children tounderstand.The Theory of Linguistic Adaptation attaches great importance on the consistency oflanguage, communicative purpose, context, and partners. As a special language user,translators should adapt themselves to specific context and readers in order to realize thefunction of translation communication.This report is a description and conclusion of the process and experience of the authorretranslation of the children’s literature “The Wizard of Oz”. In this report, the Theory ofLinguistic Adaptation by Verschueren is adopted, from the perspective of which the influenceand restriction of the contextual factors, especially the readership, upon translation areinvestigated, and the process of the translation’s adaptation to the context is described fromphonetic, lexical and syntactic aspects.The reporter holds the view that translators of children’s literature should respectchildren readers as well as their receptivity and aesthetic need, trying their best to build aharmonious communicative relationship with them and accomplish their translation in such away as to fit for the children and catch their eyes. On the lexical level,the words they chooseshould be oral and easy to understand. Figures of speech can also help add charm to their language. On the phonetic level, such linguistic devices as onomatopoeic,four-characterpatterns, rhyme and repetition an make the target language rhythmic and vivid. On thesyntactic level,the original meaning should be represented faithfully in short and simplesentences. In a word, while mastering and conveying the original style, children’s taste andacceptability should be taken into account by adopting appropriate translation methods andstrategies.