The E-C Translation Strategies Of Children’s Literature Under The Guidance Of Reception Theory

Children’s literature translation, an important branch of literature translation, has its own features and target readers. Most previous studies on children’s literature translation focus on the author and the literary work, while many of them ignore the characteristics of child readers. Being reader-oriented, reception theory stresses reader’s role in the whole process of translation, thus it can effectively guide the practice and study of children’s literature translation.This thesis is trying to introduce one of the most important concept “reader’s horizon of expectation” of the reception theory into the translation of children’s literature and find principles of applying foreignization and domestication. It applies the methods of documentation, descriptive study, case study and comparative study. By analyzing Pan Pa’s version of The House on Mango Street and giving the suggested version, the author points out that foreignization and domestication are not contradictory, but complementary. The former leads the reader to approach the author, to meet child reader’s “creative horizon of expectation”, while the latter guides the author to the reader, to meet children’s “directed horizon of expectation”. Considering child reader’s cognitive level, previous experience, cultural background, world outlook, personal interests and so on, different strategies, methods and techniques should be balanced and integrated.