The aim of this paper is to discuss the problem of translation of literary texts, with particular attention to texts where the signifiant plays a fundamental role. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a good example of this kind of texts. First, the author examines some devices that make wordplays possible. Secondly, she discusses the difficulties in translating text based on the signifiant: is it possible to transfer, in the target text, both the sound prevalence and the meaning of the source text? In the third part the author analyzes two interesting examples from Lewis Carroll’s text and compares them with their correspondents in ten Italian translations. To translate wordplays, the translator will have to exploit the solutions that the different languages’ nature offers.