Children’s Literature Translation From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

With the development of the Chinese economy and the diversification of Chinese culture, Chinese children have higher reading levels in Chinese and more extensive reading requirements. Chinese literature alone can no longer meet children’s expectations. Therefore, works from abroad have been brought in. As the ability of children to read foreign languages is limited, foreign books are mainly read in translation. The translation of children’s literature has become increasingly important.Children’s literature translation helps to expand the scope of children’s knowledge, to deepen their understanding of the world, to cultivate tolerance and to develop their early consciousness of cross-cultural communication. Many western classics and children’s literature best-sellers (such as the Harry Potter series, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, etc.) have been brought in and translated in China. Their success in translation has shown their vitality, and they have become an indispensable part of our children’s growing up.As children’s literature in translation pours into the market, the quality of translation is becoming more of an issue. There are more studies of children’s literature translation in the academic world with the goal of offering better theoretical direction for the practical task of translating. However, compared with the rate of publication of translated children’s literature, the academic study of this field seems to be lagging behind.From the perspective of reception aesthetics, the paper makes a tentative study of children’s literature translation through the case study of two Chinese versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The study arrives at the following conclusions. Translators, as the receptors of the source text and authors of the translated version, need not only to positively accept and interpret the source text, but also to predict the reception situations of the translated version. Thus translators are the bridge between the text and the children reading the translated version. Therefore, translators should first have enough knowledge and ability to correctly interpret the source text and then deeply investigate their young readers’present receptive level. Last, translators must transmit the message of the source text to the children in the way that the children will love. The research aims to release itself from the bondage of traditional text-centered translation theory and provide a new translator-centered perspective to study children’s literature translation including related translation principles and effects. All in all, this thesis aims to help improve translation quality.