Translations of Alice in Wonderland in the Sinosphere

Abstract

Despite a substantial body of scholarship on translations into different languages of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, studies of Chinese translations tend to neglect the more recent and shared translational trends across the Chinese-speaking world. While translations of the complete text establish the book’s reputation by faithfully recreating Alice’s outward adventure, partial translations have emerged in a larger number and enjoyed tremendous popularity. Some of these adapt the source story into a tale of homecoming. Comparing five selected translations in detail, I delve into the translation strategies employed in them to find out how and to what extent the original story is changed. The rationales behind these translations and the changes are discussed through the lens of dual poetics, i.e., the role of translation conceived in the target system of children’s literature and the translators’ child image. It finds that the choice between a full or partial rendering of the original is determined by the changing views of translation in the receiving system. At the same time, degrees of adaptation are almost entirely subject to the translators’ multidimensional concepts of children.