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Children's Literature in Education

, Volume 49, Issue 2, pp 140–160 | Cite as

A Case Study of Russification in Two Translations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Vladimir Nabokov and Boris Zakhoder

  • Mee Ryoung Park
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This paper examines the domestication of children literature through the comparative study of two translations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Vladimir Nabokov and Boris Zakhoder. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has a reputation for being difficult to translate into foreign languages due to its strong linguistic features of world play and parody embedded in British culture. Nabokov and Zakhoder demonstrate different approaches in translating the book and providing opportunities for Russian children to feel the same emotion and imagination that English children would feel when reading Carroll’s book. While Nabokov attempts to fully translate the meanings of Carroll’s wordplay, the rhyme of poetry and humor, Zakhoder focuses more on direct translation of original text or adding new contents to facilitate better understandings for Russian children. Nabokov exhibits more ideal translation approach of Carroll’s work and Zakhoder represents typical translation approach of Soviet era.

Keywords

Domestication Foreignization Russian Children’s Literature Nabokov Zakhoder Russification 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Hankuk University of Foreign StudiesSeoulRepublic of Korea

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