Spinning a tale: English translations and adaptations of 'La Belle au bois dormant' from the Enlightenment to the Magic Kingdom (Charles Perrault, Robert Samber, Geoffrey Brereton, Brothers Grimm, Clyde Geronimi)

The objective of this thesis is to describe the influence that changes in the target environment have on translations and adaptations. Two translations and two adaptations, belonging to different cultures and eras, of the fairy tale La Belle au bois dormant (1697) by Charles Perrault have been selected for contexualization and comparison. For each of the four target texts, I reconstruct the relevant historical, literary and translation context and describe the intended audience and purpose, drawing parallels between these external factors and the choices made by the translators and adapters in their respective texts. A discussion of Descriptive Translation Studies, polysystem theory, norm theory, the notions governing rewriting, and Skopostheory provides a theoretical framework for the thesis.; The analysis is divided into three chapters. In the first I situate the source text within its genre and historical context and outline the origins of the tale, the life of its author and how the tale reflects both its humble roots and the aristocratic audience to whom it was addressed.; The second chapter deals with two English translations: The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (1729) by Robert Samber and The Sleeping Beauty (1957) by Geoffrey Brereton. Each of the translations is presented in relation to its era and a three-way comparison between the source text, the translations and their contexts brings forth some possible reasons for the differences in the target texts.; The final chapter looks at two famous adaptations of this well-known tale, the Brothers Grimms' Dornröschen (Briar Rose) (1812) and Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959), and demonstrates how these authors were influenced by various factors of their respective eras.