Heteronormativity and Translated Children's Literature: Towards a Queer Reading
Iván Villanueva Jordán
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
(Theoretical paper)
Since the beginning of the new century, the interest of Translation Studies in children’s literature has
maintained strong and regular; a clear evidence is the continued publishing of books and book chapters on
this subject matter (Alvstad, 2010; LATHEY, 2010, 2011, 2015; LEFEBVRE, 2013; O'SULLIVAN, 2013). Most
of this work continues to develop, in certain manner, the paths first presented by polysystem theory
(Shavit, 1981) and descriptive translation studies (DTS). One can say that censorship and children's
literature are two regular variables to be found in these studies. The same happens with the concepts of
peripheral position and secondary function commonly related to explain manipulation occurring through
history and nowadays in this specific literary genre.
This paper intends to articulate a queer perspective of childhood and the translation studies of children's
literature. It will be argued that the conception of the queer child may be useful to enhance the methods of
DTS by providing some critical discursive elements related to heteronormativity and the construction of
"the" child. The key points of this paper will be presented through the revisit of a popular short story by
Oscar Wilde, "The Happy Prince," and four Spanish translations.
WORKS CITED
ALVSTAD, Cecilia (2010) "Children's Literature and Translation Studies." In Gambier, Yves and Luc van
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LATHEY, G. (2010) The Role of Translators in Children’s Literature: Invisible Storytellers. London
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--- (2011) "The Translation of Literature for Children." In Malmkjær, Kirsten and Kevin Windle (eds.) The
Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies. Oxford: The Oxford University Press.
--- (2015) Translating
Children's Literature. London and New York: Routledge.
LEFEBVERE, B. (2013) Textual Transformations in Children's Literature: Adaptations, Translations,
Reconsiderations. Ed. Benjamin Lefebvre. New York: Routledge.
O'SULLIVAN, E. (2013) "Children's
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SHAVIT, Z. (1981) "Translation of Children's Literature as a Function of Its Position in the Literary
Polysystem". Poetics Today, vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 171-179.