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: 03 November 2008
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20.2.03alv
References
Alvstad, Cecilia
2005 La traducción como mediación editorial: Un estudio de 150 libros para niños y jóvenes publicados en Argentina durante 1997. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.Google Scholar
2007 “Translational analysis and the dynamics of reading”. Yves Gambier Miriam Shlesinger, and Radegundis Stolze, ed. Doubts and directions in Translation Studies: Selected contributions from the EST congress Lisbon 2004. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2007 127–135.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bettelheim, Bruno
1976 The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Black, Max
1990 Perplexities: Rational choice, the prisoner’s dilemma, metaphor, poetic ambiguity and other puzzles. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Börjesson, Per-Olov
1980 Preface to Asklund’s Swedish translation of “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat.Google Scholar
Empson, William
[1930] 1995 Seven types of ambiguity. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Frongia, Terri
1995 “Pedagogy, aesthetics, and humanism: The three muses of Italian children’s literature theory.” The lion and the unicorn 19.1. 50–70.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Haahr, Joan G.
2000 “The steadfast tin soldier.” Zipes 2000 . 496–497.Google Scholar
Hjørnager Pedersen, Viggo
2004 Ugly ducklings?: Studies in the English translations of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales and stories. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark.Google Scholar
Holbek, Bengt
2003 “Hans Christian Andersen’s use of folktales”. Hilda Ellis Davidson, ed. A companion to the fairy tale. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer 2003 149–158.Google Scholar
Iser, Wolfgang
[1976] 1978 The act of reading: A theory of aesthetic response. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press. [Translation of Der Akt des Lesens.]Google Scholar
Joosen, Vanessa
2005 “Fairy-tale retellings between art and pedagogy.” Children’s literature in education 361. 129–139.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Knowles, Murray and Kirsten Malmkjær
1989 “Translating ideology: Language, power and the world of the tin soldier.” ELR Journal 31. 205–242.Google Scholar
Krogh Hansen, Per and Marianne Wolff Lundholdt
2005 When we get to the end: Towards a narratology of the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark.Google Scholar
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin
2004 Children’s literature: New approaches. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Madsen, Annette
1999 “Count Lucanor by Don Juan Manuel as inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen and other European witers”. Johan de Mylius, Aage Jørgensen and Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen, eds. Hans Christian Andersen: A poet in time. Odense: Odense University Press 1999 173–176.Google Scholar
Nikolajeva, Maria
2000 “Andersen, Hans Christian.” Zipes 2000 . 13–15.Google Scholar
2005 Aesthetic approaches to children’s literature: An introduction. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press.Google Scholar
Popova, Yanna
2002 “The figure in the carpet: Discovery or re-cognition.” Semino and Culpeper 2002 . 49–71.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Semino, Elena and Jonathan Culpeper
eds. 2002 Cognitive stylistics: Language and cognition in text analysis. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Tsur, Reuven
2002 “Aspects of cognitive poetics.” Semino and Culpeper 2002.. 279–318.   CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Weinreich, Torben
1999 Børnelitteratur mellem kunst og pædagogik. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag.Google Scholar
2001 Børnelitteratur—en grundbog. København: Høst & Søn.Google Scholar
Zipes, Jack
1997 Happily ever after: Fairy tales, children, and the culture industry. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
2000 The Oxford companion to fairy tales. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2005 Hans Christian Andersen: The misunderstood storyteller. London: Routledge.Google Scholar

Hans Christian Andersen’s “Den standhaftige Tinsoldat” by name of translator, editor or publisher

Adell, Alberto
[1973] 2004 La sombra y otros cuentos. Madrid: Alianza. Illustrations: Vilhelm Pedersen.Google Scholar
Ahrland, Line
1984 H.C. Andersens kända sagor. Helsingborg: Kärnan.Google Scholar
Anderberg, Bengt
1982 Sagor och berättelser I, 1835–45. Stockholm: Awe Geber. Illustrations: Vilhelm Pedersen and Lorenz Frölich.Google Scholar
Asklund, Erik
1980 H.C. Andersen. Sagor och berättelser. Malmö: Galleri Börjeson. Illustrations: Theo Tobiasse.Google Scholar
Bernárdez, Enrique
[1973] 2004 La sombra y otros cuentos. Illustrations: Elena Odriozola The edition from 1973 was published with Vilhelm Pedersen’s illustrations.Google Scholar
Bordoy Luque, Salvador Fernández Romero
1957 Cuentos completos. Madrid: Aguilar. Illustrations: Vilhelm Pedersen, Lorenz Frölich and Herlug Jensenius.Google Scholar
Bønning, Birgitte
1998 Hans Christian Andersen, Cuentos. Bogotá: Panamericana. Illustrations: Jorge Alberto Avila.Google Scholar
Cardeñoso, Concha
2004 Los mejores cuentos de Andersen. Barcelona: Timunmas. Illustrations: Liora Grossman.Google Scholar
Dal, Erik
1963 H.C. Andersens eventyr. København: Hans Reitzels forlag.Google Scholar
Fernández Cuesta, D.R.
1879 Cuentos elegidos de Andersen. Madrid: Imprenta de Gaspar.Google Scholar
Frisch, Maj
1977 H.C. Andersens kända sagor. Helsingborg: Kärnan.Google Scholar
Gunnarsson, Jakob
1995 H.C. Andersens bästa sagor. Stockholm: Klassikerförlaget 1995 Illustrations: Ruth Koser-Michaels.Google Scholar
Hallqvist, Britt G.
1992 Den ståndaktige tennsoldaten. Stockholm: Natur och kultur Illustrations: Elisabeth Nyman.Google Scholar
Harris, Martin
2003 Den ståndaktige tennsoldaten. Fritt efter H.C. Andersen av Mårdøn Smet. Stockholm: Bonnier Carlsen. Illustrations: Mårdøn Smet.Google Scholar
Holmberg, Åke
1995 Fyra sagor av H.C. Andersen. Stockholm: Bonnier Carlsen. Illustrations: Mette Brahm Lauritsen.Google Scholar
Kärnan
1980 Den ståndaktige tennsoldaten, Kärnan. Anonymous translator. Anonymous illustrations. Translation from an English edition named The brave tin soldier.Google Scholar
Lehmann, Edv
1977 H.C. Andersen och hans sagor. Malmö: AB Kulturhistoriska förlagen Göteborg. Illustrations: Evalisa Agathon.Google Scholar
Martínez Vega, María Victoria Raebel, Guillermo
1999 Los mejores cuentos de Andersen. León: Everest. Translation from a German edition named Die schönsten Märchen von Hans Christian Andersen (by Anica Esterl). Illustrations: Anastassija Archipowa.Google Scholar
Nadal, Alfonso
1933 Cuentos de Andersen. Barcelona: Editorial Juventud. Illustrations: Arthur Rackham.Google Scholar
1939 Cuentos de Hadas de Andersen. Buenos Aires: Editorial Molino. Illustrations: Freixas. (N.B. This is a completely different translation than the one published as Nadal 1933.)Google Scholar
Orts-Ramos, Ramón
1902 Cuentos. Barcelona.Google Scholar
Payarols, Francisco
1959 Cuentos completos. Barcelona. Illustrations by Vilhelm Pedersen and Lorenz Frölich. (Also available in electronic format at: http://​www​.hadaluna​.com​/ andersen​/a​-soldadito​.htm. Access date 2005-12-06.)
Stjernquist, Astrid
1960 H.C. Andersen. De bästa sagorna. Helsingborg: Förlaget Kärnan. Anonymous illustrator.Google Scholar
Todolibro. No year of publication but available in Spanish bookshops
2005 Clásicos para contar, anonymous translator. Madrid: Todolibro. Anonymous illustrations.Google Scholar
Welinder, Lars
2002 Hans Christian Andersen: Älskade sagor. Malmö: Corona förlag. Illustrations: Vilh. Pedersen & Lorenz Frölich.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Alvstad, Cecilia
2010.  In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 1], ► pp. 22 ff. Crossref logo
Dybiec-Gajer, Joanna
2020.  In Negotiating Translation and Transcreation of Children's Literature [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 39 ff. Crossref logo
Giugliano, Marcello & Elia Hernández Socas
2020. Ambivalence, Gender, and Censorship in two Spanish Translations of Little Women. Meta 64:2 ► pp. 312 ff. Crossref logo
Linder, Daniel
2014. Getting away with murder. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 26:3 ► pp. 337 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.