Translation Aesthetics in Children’s Literature

Abstract

Despite the fact that children’s literature is an important branch of the literary polysystem, it was neglected as a peripheral subject for long. It is not until in recent years that much attention is increasingly poured into it due to the rapid development of economy and booming cross-cultural exchanges. Currently, the newly-developed children’s literature is gradually occupying a dominant position and winning children’s favor. Translated works are no exception. Numerous classic children’s literary works from abroad are translated and retranslated. People tend to care much about translation activities, yet forget to formulate the theoretical framework. The thesis attempts to explore how to incorporate translation aesthetics into children’s literature translation. Children’s literature is characterized by its artistry, which is no doubt linked to children’s unique disposition. Children’s rich imagination, their acute sense of color, rhythm and children-favored animated images, etc. should be given priority in the process of translation. Based on Liu Miqing’s interpretation of translation aesthetics, the thesis will be developed from the perspective of the aesthetic object, the aesthetic subject and their respective aesthetic constituents. Further discussion is given as to the realization of aesthetic transference and representation in translating children’s literature under the guidance of translation aesthetics.