Tradurre la letteratura per l'infanzia: proposta di traduzione di Flip Flap Safari di Axel Scheffler

This thesis is a proposed translation of the picture book Flip Flap Safari, written by the German author Axel Scheffler and published in 2014. The translation is presented along with an analysis and a commentary in which I analyse and examine the main translation problems of this kind of literature. and I explain the reasons behind my solutions. The translation of a picture book is a creative challenge because it requires translator to use their linguistic and cultural skills together with their imagination and to evaluate the phonetic dimension of the source text and reproduce in the target language. In the first part of my thesis I will introduce an overview of children’s literature in Italy and I will then focus on Flip Flap Safari, analysing the text and providing biographical information about its author-illustrator Axel Scheffler. In the second part of my thesis I will present my translation of the book, which will be followed by a reflection about the main problems I had to face during the translation process.

Sul sentiero meno battuto: Proposta di traduzione di sei albi illustrati che si allontanano dagli stereotipi sui temi di genere, multiculturalismo e disabilita

This thesis focuses on the translation of six picture books that challenge and subvert – each one in its peculiar way – typical stereotypes found in Children’s Literature. I think that stereotyping is an all-important theme in picture books because these books are the ones that will introduce children to literature and young readers have the right to find in it every kind of model. Showing children a variety of characters that reflects the multiple forms of reality will allow them to choose which kind of person to be. In my opinion, this freedom is much needed especially here, in Italy, in this moment of history. This work also studies the stereotypes that have appeared – and are still present, to some extent – in Children’s Literature, the ways in which they are dangerous for young readers, and how they have changed over time. I centered my research on three major themes that have been subject to stereotyping: race, disability and gender. I searched for the right books to translate paying attention not only to the themes they focused on but also to how they dealt with such themes, the tone of each picture book and, obviously, its quality. The selection resulting from my research reflects a diverse world and a celebration of difference. Before actually translating them, I engaged in a deep analysis of their structures, themes and meanings, so that I would be able to enter the ‘world’ of the book and to understand its ‘secrets’ better. This analysis proved to be fundamental during the translation phase and allowed me to make conscious translation choices that I have explored in the part dedicated to the commentary of the translation.