Translating Humorous Elements in Children’s Books – Astrid Lindgren’s Bill Bergson Books in English and German

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Published: Dec 10, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47743/lincu-2018-2-0126
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translation of humour children’s literature Astrid Lindgren Bill Bergson skaz

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Ulf Norberg
Stockholm University, Sweden

Abstract

Research in the translation of humorous elements in children’s books is a complex subject, which cannot be reduced to studies of wordplay and of other highly humorous items. The translation of slightly humorous items can also influence the whole literary work if such elements are used frequently. This article analyses the ways in which such funny instances were dealt with in the English and German translations of the Bill Bergson books (original name: Kalle Blomkvist) by the Swedish author of children’s books Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002). More specifically, it discusses the translation of several funny words and expressions, repetitions and exaggerations.It is shown that the humorous effects in the English translation are sometimes less obvious than in the German translation, even if both translated texts rendered the majority of humorous instances in a very funny way.

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How to Cite
Norberg, U. “Translating Humorous Elements in Children’s Books – Astrid Lindgren’s Bill Bergson Books in English and German”. Linguaculture, vol. 9, no. 2, Dec. 2018, pp. 99-110, doi:10.47743/lincu-2018-2-0126.
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Vol. 9 No. 2 (2018)
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Articles
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Ulf Norberg, Stockholm University, Sweden

Ulf Norberg works as a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Interpretion and Translation Studies, Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism, Stockholm University, Sweden. He teaches translation theory, literary translation, and the translation of LSP texts. His research interests are the translation of children’s literature, speech-to-text interpreting, and the translation between closely-related languages.

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