On The C-E Translation Of The Piggy Oinky From The Perspective Of Children-orientation

The original purpose of children’s literature was the need for children’s education.Due to the trend of diversified research,the research on the translation of children’s literature has developed rapidly in the recent 30 years.However,the theses and journals in China discussing the E-C translation of children’s literature are in a majority while those on C-E translation are much fewer.Translating Chinese fairy tales can contribute to the introduction of Chinese culture and cultural exchanges.The selected text of this thesis is The Piggy Oinky written by Sun Youjun.The major difficulties in the process of translation were how to deal with the names,onomatopoeia,wordplay,sentences,and dialogues in the source text.Therefore,the writer attempts to discuss the following questions.What translation strategies should be adopted to settle the difficulties?How to express the semantic meanings of the source text while ensuring the version is easy for target children to understand?Children-orientation requires that the translation of children’s literature centre on target children’s needs,taking their cognition and acceptance into consideration,to ensure that they understand what the author wants to convey in the source text.According to childrenorientation,Gillian Lathey proposes strategies in her book,including those for translating names,onomatopoeia,illustrations,wordplay,sentences,and dialogues.The writer adopts the methodology of case study,discussing the translation strategies of the selected text from the perspective of children-orientation,and summarizing the experience of how to ensure the version is easy for target children to understand.The writer analyses the translation of the first chapter from five aspects by adopting Lathey’s strategies:names,onomatopoeia,wordplay,sentences,and dialogues.After the case analysis,the writer reaches the following conclusion.When rendering names in the book,literal translation is easier for target readers to understand.The words that reflect the traits of the characters or express the author’s emotions should also be re-presented in the translation.When dealing with onomatopoeia,reading aloud is advisable to check if the translation conforms to English preferences and target children’s cognition.Literal translation is the best choice to reproduce the aural effects in the source text.However,translators should be flexible when literal translation is cannot be achieved.Since wordplay in the source text usually has no equivalents in the target language,the overall strategy is to conform to the phonetic rules in English and meanwhile be within target children’s acceptance.In terms of sentences,the sentence structures should be simple for the sake of target children’s better understanding.At the same time,the phrasing should be variable.In terms of dialogues in the book,reading aloud is an effective strategy to check if the translation is congruent and consistent.When translating dialogues between adults and children,a distinction should be drawn between the sentence structures and vocabulary of the two parties to help target children differentiate the two types of characters.