ALTA45 Roundtable: Translating Children’s Literature Values, Norms, and Ethics

What is the role of translators in children’s literature? What are some of the ethical challenges posed by the translation of children’s literature? How much of the ‘other’ culture is or can be preserved in translated children’s literature? What are some of the social and cultural norms that shape translation strategies? How are values implicated in translating picture books? What is the power of translated children’s literature to transform society? Format: This roundtable will approach its main theme and central questions via the discussion of specific cases of translations of children’s literature into English from various languages.

…

Organizers

Tal Goldfajn is Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her English translations and translation reviews have appeared in Restless Books, The Common, ActionBooks, Saccades and LARB. She directs the Pipa Project (Brazilian Picture Books in Translation) and collaborates with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Denise Kripper is a literary translator and translation scholar. She is the translation editor at Latin American Literature Today and an Associate Professor at Lake Forest College. She lives in Chicago, where she’s a founding member of the Third Coast Translators Collective.

Participants

Mia Spangenberg translates fiction, nonfiction and children’s literature from Finnish, German, and Swedish into English. She is particularly passionate about international children’s literature and is part of the team at WorldKidLit. Mia holds a PhD in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she resides with her family. Helena Lipska is a retired German teacher. Helena is currently working on a part-time basis as a translator for New York State Court system. Helena was always interested in translating literature and has already translated a few children’s stories. Jasmine Hongyu Zhu (朱弘昱) hails from Chengdu, China, and is a high school student at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. She grows up surrounded by the beautiful, messy sounds of her mother tongue. In 2022 spring, she adapted her English translation of Sanmao(三毛)’s short story “吹兵” into an 8-minute monologue, and performed it at her high school’s annual Declamation. Corine Tachtiris is Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She translates prose primarily by contemporary Francophone African, Caribbean, and Canadian, as well as Czech, women authors. She is a Translation Editor at The Massachusetts Review, specializing in prose, and an at-large member of the ALTA Board.