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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 20:2 (2008) ► pp.222–248

Ambiguity translated for children

Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” as a case in point

| University of Oslo

This article addresses ambiguity in translations for children. ‘Ambiguity’, here understood as something that allows for more than one interpretation, is supposed to be critical in translation for children as it clashes with some mediators’ ideas of what children’s literature is or ought to be. Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” [‘The steadfast tin soldier’] and a sample of twenty-four translations thereof (twelve into Swedish and twelve into Spanish) are used to explore different ways that ambiguity is translated for children. The objective is to determine if and how the tale’s ambiguities are manipulated in the various translations, and thus to initiate a theoretical discussion of ambiguity in translation for children. A difference is established between ‘textually resolvable’ and ‘textually irresolvable’ ambiguities and these two kinds of ambiguity are found to be treated differently in the analyzed sample of translations.

Keywords: ambiguity, literary translation, children’s literature, Hans Christian Andersen
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat”: A highly ambiguous narrative
  • The twenty-four translations
    • 1.Translations with both resolvable and irresolvable ambiguity
    • 2.Resolvable translations
    • 3.Unambiguous translations
  • Final reflections
  • Notes
  • References
  • Hans Christian Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” by name of translator, editor or publisher
Published online: 3 November 2008
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20.2.03alv
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