Call for Papers: From morals to the macabre in translation for children

In the history of children’s literature, Heinrich Hoffmann’s controversial classic Der Struwwelpeter (1845) marks the transition to the modern type of writing for children – a vivid and dramatic picture book with the child protagonist centre stage. The stunning success of the book led to numerous translations and spin-offs across the globe, and the conference will take place on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the first publication of Struwwelpeter in Polish. Special focus is thus on the journey of this children’s classic across various languages, historical epochs and translational cultures.

We will also take this anniversary as a starting point to consider how such issues as morals, nonsense, grotesque, humour and the macabre – all part of Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter – have been tackled in translations for children. Apparently universal, on closer inspection these issues prove to be culture specific categories. Likewise, their treatment in translation is dependent on a variety of factors, many of which result from culturally engrained concepts of writing and translating for children and the notion of appropriateness. As the concept of literature for children has changed, so have the ways in which mediators, from translators to critics, approach their work. Earlier translators tended to take considerable liberties when rendering texts for children, for example, toning down or, on the contrary, exaggerating the moralizing zeal of the original, or censoring the elements considered unsuitable for children such as cruelty and the macabre. Adaptations rather than translations for children were widespread and more readily accepted than today.

We are interested not only in investigating renditions of textual production for children, but also in other material such as films and games created with the child recipient in mind. Translation is understood broadly, and thus includes such specific types as literary translation, audiovisual translation, localization and media accessibility.

As the conference focuses on translation for children, we invite both practitioners (authors, publishers, translators) and scholars working in translation studies, children’s literature studies, book history, pedagogy and other related disciplines that can provide promising lines of research. We welcome proposals that work with a variety of methodologies, from established text analysis to empirical research and data-driven approaches (digital humanities).

Conference languages are English and Polish.

Conference publication (peer-reviewed) is planned.

Conference topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Translation for children

- the role and function of morals in source texts and their translations

- the aesthetics of horror and the macabre, black humour and nonsense from a historical and contemporary perspective

- the concept of the child (reader) from the perspective of translators, publishers, illustrators

- cultural traditions

- the evolution of translational norms

- translation and censorship

- ideological shifts in translation

- new genres and media in translation

- double address and its implications for translation

- translation for children in a (post)global world

- new technologies and translation for children

- methodological challenges in investigating translation for children

- the professionalization of translation for children

Der Struwwelpeter and struwwelpetriades

- local and national traditions in translations and adaptations of Struwwelpeter

- the position and role of Struwwelpeter in various literary polysystems

- the role of mediators: translators, publishers, illustrators, critics

- intersemiotic and intermedial translation: adaptations for other media, e.g. digital picture books, stage, film, games, comics

- the influence of Struwwelpeter translations and adaptations on the reception of the book

- Struwwelpeter as an example of crossover

- translator attribution in early foreign-language editions of Struwwelpeter

- Struwwelpeter in popular culture

Translation didactics

- children’s literature and other “children’s genres” in the translation classroom

- the place of children’s literature in translator training curricula

- audiovisual translation for children

- the child (recipient) in the context of the professionalization of translator training

- gamification and translation teaching

Conference topics will fall into three major themes:

- translation practice

- theoretical paradigms and methods in investigating translation for children (“Children’s Literature Translation Studies”)

- teaching methodology and translator education

CONTACT: childrenmacabre2018@gmail.com

For more information and registration see: www.childrenmacabre.up.krakow.pl

Important dates:

Deadline for submission of abstracts: October 30, 2017

Notification of acceptance: January 15, 2018

Deadline for registration: March 15, 2018