Production And Reception: A Study Of Translated Children’s Literature In China (2004-2013)

Children’s literature(CL),as a specially designed literature for children,is also an independent genre of literature research.The study of it includes the basic theory of children’s literature,children’s literature criticism and history of children’s literature.Among them,the historical study of children’s literature has a particularly important position.And the translation history of children’s literature is also an indispensable part of children’s literature history.It is said that the period of 2004-2013 is the golden decade of Chinese children’s literature.This study attempts to describe the general situation of translation of foreign children’s literature in China during this period,including translated CL works,source language countries,translators and publishing houses to investigate the production of children’s literature translation by describing these various subjects participating in it.Besides,the characteristics of translated CL works in this period are summarized.What’s more,this thesis investigates the reception of these translated CL works in China and comprehensively analyzes the reasons for the production and reception of them.The first part is the study of production of translated children’s literature in this period.The data of this study is based on OpenBook Company’s national book retail market observing system.Through quantitative research and qualitative research,this study found that:(1)The translated CL works in this decade were 10505,involving 58 countries,4,167 translators and 269 publishing houses.(2)The three characteristics of translated CL works in this period are summarized as follows: re-translating of children’s literary classics,re-producing of adult’s literary classics,emerging of “child-oriented”translations.(3)What’s more,the period can be divided into two stages,2004-2008 and2009-2013.This study has sorted out 35 works re-translated and re-produced consecutively for ten years,and makes a classical catalogue of this period.The second part is the study of reception of translated children’s literature in thisperiod.It is mainly based on the classical catalogue as the representative and research object.Through the overall investigation and case study,it is found that: On the whole,there are 21 books recommended by the Ministry of Education as required reading list,which are included in Classics Library of World Youth literature and are well received.Science fiction such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,magic novels such as Harry Potter and adventure detective novels such as Super Tiger-team,are perennial best-sellers of TOP30;Classics such as The Heart of a Boy and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are better sold in spring and autumn when a semester begins or during summer and winter holidays;With the introduction of the concept of bestsellers and the marketing promotion of publishing houses,some translated CL works such as The Little Girl at the Window and Charlotte’s Web are especially well receipted,notably the former once topped the national bestseller list for 8 consecutive years.The third part interprets the reasons for the production and reception of translated children’s literature in this period from a cultural perspective.This study holds that there are various reasons for the production and reception of translated CL works in this stage.Among them,“Child-oriented theory” in the new century and views on “translating for children” play a decisive role in the production and reception of translated children’s literature.In addition,the implementation of quality education,the operation and maturity of market mechanism as well as the patronage’s manipulation having significant influence on the production and reception of translation also.In addition,this study also compiled a catalogue of re-translated CL classics(2004-2013)and a catalogue of best-sellers as well,to provide references for future history studies on children’s literature translation.However,due to the limited ability of the author,the breadth and depth of this study are far from enough.It is hoped that the future scholars can further the study and help to write the history of Chinese CL translation.