Abstract:

Despite the fact that translation of children and youth literature products has a special position in the field of translation and it brings many translation problems with it, the review of translation in this field is limited. The aim of the study is to contribute to the field of translation of children and youth literature in the example of the Turkish translations of the famous fantasy child and youth novel by German writer Michael Ende, Die unendliche Geschichte (1979) . The work has four translations made by Saadet Özkal (Ende 1986 1999 2017) and Saffet Günersel (Ende 1996). All the translations are published with the Name of the Unfinished Story. The fact that translators face many translation problems is due to the fact that the children’s fantasy novel Die unendliche Geschichte contains a large number of unique visual, linguistic and formal elements. One of the elements that make up a translation problem in the work is the names of fantastic beings and places that are of great importance in the work and put the writer's creativity in the forefront. In the study, in the light of the functional and child-oriented translation theory (C. Nord and E. O'Sullivan) the examples of fantastic assets and place names that form the translation problem were addressed, and the translators found that the translation techniques used to overcome the relevant translation problems were different. In the last examples, it appears that Özkal's translation is more source-oriented to text, while Günersel has adopted a man-oriented approach taking into account the function of translation.

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Abstract:

The translation of children's and youth literature is of particular importance in Translation Studies but also poses many translation problems. However, there has so far been limited research that focuses on translation criticism in the field of children’s and youth literature. The aim of this study is to contribute to discussions on the translation of children’s and youth literature based on the example of Michael Ende’s fantasy novel Die unendliche Geschichte (1979) and its Turkish translations. Overall, there are four Turkish translations done by two translators Saadet Özkal (Ende 1986; 1999; 2017) and Saffet Günersel (Ende 1996). All translations have the same Turkish title Bitmeyecek Öykü. Translation work on the children's fantasy novel Die unendliche Geschichte involves many potential translation problems not least due to the use in the novel of specific visual, linguistic and stylistic means. Specific translation challenges in the novel include , inter alia, those that arise due to the prevalence of names of important fantastic beings and places, which indicate the author’s creativity. This analysis, conducted within the scope of functional and child-centered theory of translation (C. Nord and E. O'Sullivan), shows that different translation techniques were used by the translators to overcome the particular translation challenges in the novel in question. The results suggest that Özkal’s translations are source text oriented, and Günersel’s translation is rather functional and target reader oriented.