Rendering Personal Names in Translations of Children's Literature from English into Croatian: Case Studies of Roald Dahl's Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

master's thesis

• Author: Lana Štefulj
• Mentor: Snježana Veselica Majhut (mentor)
• Committee member: Nataša Pavlović (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Snježana Veselica Majhut (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Ivana Bašić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2020-07-03, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

A vast number of children’s books are translated into various languages. One of the important elements in translations of children’s books are personal names. This thesis presents two case studies of the ways of translating personal names in two novels by Roald Dahl, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, from English into Croatian. The objectives of the study are to analyse which translation strategies are used to render personal names from the source texts in the corresponding target texts, to see how these choices contribute to the dominant text-level orientation of the target text and thus to expand the existing body of knowledge about translation strategies used for rendering names in children’s literature from English into Croatian. The analysis of the data consists of two parts: an analysis of the quantitative data on the employment of specific translation strategies used to render personal names and a comparative analysis of the strategies employed to render conventional and “loaded” names in the two source text – target text pairs. The findings have shown that in the translation of Matilda three strategies were used more frequently than others: phonological replacement, substitution and replacement with a name that carries a different connotation. In the translation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, copying was the most frequently employed translation strategy. A detailed analysis of the data has shown that there are great differences between the two translations in terms of translation strategies used to translate the names and in terms of the dominant text-level orientation of each target text.

Abstract (croatian)

Velik broj književnih djela namijenjenih djeci prevodi se na različite jezike. U prijevodima djela dječje književnosti osobna imena zauzimaju važnu ulogu. U ovome radu prezentirat će se dvije studije slučaja o načinima na koje su osobna imena prevedena s engleskog jezika na hrvatski u dvama romanima Roalda Dahla, “Matilda” i “Charlie i tvornica čokolade”. Cilj ovoga rada je analiza prijevodnih strategija koje su korištene pri prevođenju osobnih imena iz izvornika u ciljne tekstove, kako bi se ustanovilo na koji način te odluke doprinose dominantnoj orijentaciji ciljnih tekstova te kako bi se proširila postojeća znanja o prijevodnim strategijama koje se koriste pri prijevodu imena iz dječje književnosti s engleskog na hrvatski jezik. Analiza podataka sastojala se od dva dijela: analize kvantitativnih podataka o prijevodnim strategijama koji su korišteni pri prijevodu imena i komparativne analize prijevodnih strategija koje su korištene pri prijevodu konvencionalnih i „motiviranih” imena iz dva izvorna teksta. Iz rezultata je vidljivo da su pri prijevodu imena iz djela „Matilda” tri prijevodne strategije korištene češće od ostalih, a to su fonološka zamjena, supstitucija i zamjena imenom koje ima drugačiju konotaciju. Pri prijevodu imena iz djela „Charlie i tvornica čokolade” kopiranje je najčešće korištena prijevodna strategija. Detaljna analiza podataka upućuje da postoje značajne razlike između dva prijevoda s obzirom na prijevodne strategije koje su korištene pri prijevodu imena te s obzirom na dominantnu orijentaciju prijevoda.

• Keywords: translation; children's literature; personal names; translation strategies
• Keywords (croatian): prevođenje; dječja književnost; osobna imena; prijevodne strategije
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:069788
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Translation; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2020-07-06 13:33:06