The Influence Of Dual Readership Structure On Translator's Re-creation

This report is about the translation practice of Greyfriars Bobby,a children's book written by American writer Eleanor Atkinson.Adapted from a well-known real story in the 19th-century Scotland,this book tells a story of a hound dog named Bobby who has spent 14 years at his master's grave before he died.Based on the translator's understanding of the structure of dual readership in the process of recreation,this report analyzes and summarizes the Chinese translation from chapter four to chapter six of Greyfriars Bobby,aiming at providing some references and specific translation strategies for Chinese translation of similar works of children's literature.Children's literature is an important genre of literature and reader research is a significant area of children's literature.The readership of children's literature is a dual structure consisting of children readers and adult readers.In other words,the target audience of children's literature are not only children,but also their parents,who play an indispensable role in the reading process of real life.Parents of target readers select and read children's literature materials for children,that is to say,parents have the right to choose and buy children's books,so children are often in a silent position.Therefore,the dual readership structure of children's literature includes children and parents.In order to attract more parents to buy,publishers often require translators to use advanced vocabulary,so adult perspectives often appear in the translation of children's literature.However,the translation of children's literature must be consistent with children's cognition and habits.Since children's cognitive level is comparatively low,if translators use too many complex words and sentences in translation,their self-confidence will be undermined.In the process of recreation,translators should fully consider the characteristics of children.They should put themselves in the position of children,strive to make the language simple and beautiful,and use simple sentence structure.Translators should use domestication strategies when translating environment descriptions and dialogues.However,in specific cases such as translating cultural and religious descriptions,translators should take the principle of dual readership into consideration and boldly adopt the foreignization strategy.In addition,annotations can be added to present cultural elements hardly rendered in the target language.As children's reading companions,parents can do further explanations about the exotic knowledge in the book,thus expanding their children's knowledge and improving their cognitive level.Translation is not an easy work,especially when translating children's literature.The translators should pay attention to every detail,and try to convey the meaning that the original text wants to express.This report finds that the dual readership structure can well guide the translation of children's literature and help the dissemination of cultures.