Book review
Gaby Thomson-Wohlgemuth. Translation under State Control. Books for Young People in the German Democratic Republic
New York-London: Routledge, 2009. xvi + 260 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-99580-1

Reviewed by Kate Sturge
Birmingham
Table of contents

Gaby Thomson-Wohlgemuth’s study of children’s literature in East Germany takes us into a surreal world of translation publishing where densely woven control mechanisms tried to ensure that all incoming literature for children and young people conformed to a strictly defined set of values. The author’s admirably thorough examination of publication statistics and censorship files offers a glimpse into an area of translation history that has otherwise been largely neglected—indeed, the main studies of the German Democratic Republic’s translation policy are by Thomson-Wohlgemuth herself (e.g. in Billiani’s 2007 collection on translation and censorship).

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References

Lefevere, André
1992 Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London/New York: Routledge. Google Scholar
Thomson-Wohlgemuth, Gaby
2007 “On the Other Side of the Wall: Book Production, Censor ship and Translation in East Germany.” Francesca Billiani ed. Modes of Censorship and Translation. Manchester: St Jerome. 93–116.Google Scholar
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