Translating children’s literature into Maltese : extracts from ‘The railway children’

Abstract

Translating children’s literature is not a simple exercise, but a complex task which requires the translator to understand that the target readers are children. This means that the translator must understand significant aspects related to children, including their educational maturity, way of thinking, abilities, and attitudes. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the linguistic and cultural challenges when translating children’s literature into Maltese. This study explores various strategies and theories in order to overcome the challenges this task offers, which are then put to practice in the translation of five extracts from The Railway Children. The dissertation consists of an explanatory approach towards understanding the child reader, in view of relevant translation theories. The translation of five extracts from The Railway Children helps the discussion on translating children’s literature from English into Maltese.