TRANSLATION OF ETHNIC STEREOTYPES AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: MARY POPPINS' ‘BAD TUESDAY' CHAPTER

Abstract

Pamela Travers rewrote the sixth chapter of Mary Poppins (“Bad Tuesday”) twice in response to criticism of its discriminatory content and language. The book was banned for this reason in the San Francisco public library system in the 1980s. This is a study of the Spanish translation of the first version of the chapter, published in Spain in the first decade of Franco's dictatorship and still present in the current edition. The stereotypical depiction of non-white ethnicities in both languages and contexts will be discussed, together with the use of taboo words and the unequal treatment of men and women in a children story.