A Report On The Translation Of The Last Cuentista (Excerpts)

The original text of this translation report is selected from The Last Cuentista,written by Donna Barba Higuera,the winner of the 2022 Newbery Medal.This science fiction children’s literature has 30 chapters in its entirety,from which the translator has selected 6 chapters for translation.Children’s literature is designed to meet the needs of children’s readers.The winner of the 2022 Newbery Medal can help Chinese readers in their teenage years understand Mexican-American culture,promote young people’s imagination,enhance their scientific literacy,and feel the life experience and emotional care from the perspective of science fiction.Translating this work and presenting it to Chinese children’s readers,can broaden their horizons,enhance their imagination,and improve their aesthetic skills.The content of this science fiction novel,which is mainly from the "children’s points of view",is not only cleverly designed to address the psychological aspects of children’s fears,fantasies,and adventures,but also contains a concern for human beings and all things natural around the world.This report analyzes the translation difficulties and provides solutions based on the "Position of Readers,Horizons of Expectations,Text Vacancy" Framework of Translation proposed by the founders of Reception Aesthetics.This report also suggests how to cope when translators encounter the field of science fiction children’s literature.Through the case analysis,this report comes up with the following methods in the translation of science fiction children’s literature: The ways to reflect the child-centered position include the usage of reduplication,onomatopoeia,and interjections;The ways to reach horizons of expectations include the translation of omitting the difficult information to understand,the Mexican-American culture words,zoological names and the scene of future space travel;The ways to filling up text vacancy include using paraphrasing,inversion,and four-letter Chinese words.