Translating cultural references in childrens literature

Abstract

Children’s literature is an important branch of literature, as it is intended for young readers, Therefore, translators must carefully consider the cultural knowledge, and background of their target audience, ensuring that Cultural references are treated appropriately. certain cultural elements exist in one language but do not exist in the same form in another, Aixela (1996) refers to them as culture-specific items (CSIs), in literary translation, one of the greatest challenges is dealing with these CSIs in the source text (ST) and to find suitable appropriate equivalents for them in the target language (TL) that accurately convey their cultural meaning. This thesis focuses on how cultural references are translated in children's literature, focusing on the obstacles that may arise when dealing with culture-specific items (CSIs), and how they are rendered for young readers. Emphasizing the main strategies employed by the translator, from English into Arabic. Examples are taken from a work of children's literature; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1958) and its Arabic translation في أليس مغامرات العجائب بالد by Ameera Qaiwan (2003) as a case study, to analyze translation choices.