Gained in translation :the effects of translators' gender on English-language children's literature as translated in China and Taiwan

Abstract

This thesis explores how translators’ gender affects their reading and interpretation of foreign children’s literature, particularly from source texts by British male authors to target texts by Taiwanese female translators. It argues that masculine voices characteristic of British texts and Chinese translations from the early twentieth century have been changed both by modern liberal authors and regulated by emerging female translators working with female editors. The study examines ways in which translators reproduce social and gender norms from both the source and the target cultures. It also investigates how gender identity affects translators’ use of language and their attitudes toward the target texts of different groups of readers. The thesis provides historical background and an overview of the children’s publishing business and infrastructure in Taiwan before discussing polysystem theory and feminist criticism in relation to translation. It uses a combination of close reading and comparative analysis across a large sample of texts to identify instances where gender appears to have affected the translation. The analysis begins with classics – such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) – that have been translated both by male and female translators. It then considers a selection of contemporary novels, most translated by women, as usual for translations of children’s books in Taiwan. Finally, a number of translated picturebooks are analyzed, revealing a set of highly feminized translation practices related to equally feminine paratexts. Works by the following writers are discussed: David Almond, J.M. Barrie, Quentin Blake, Anthony Brown, John Burningham, Lewis Carroll, Aidan Chambers, Alan Garner, Kenneth Grahame, Charles Keeping, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, David Mckee, Mark Haddon, Davod Merling, China Miéville, Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman, R.L. Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde.