An invisible storyteller or a loud recreator? A translator-centered approach to the translation of children’s literature
Aida Alla
AAB College, KosovoAssist. Prof. Dr. Aida Alla is a lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, AAB College, where she teaches courses such as Translation Theory, Translation Practice, and Syntax. Her academic expertise lies in comparative linguistics, with a focus on English-Albanian translation studies. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Tirana, where her dissertation focused on comparative analysis of the linguistic structures in English and Albanian, through the lens of translation equivalence. Her research examined how syntactical, stylistic, and cultural elements are rendered in literary translations from English into Albanian. In addition to her academic work, Aida Alla has extensive professional experience in translation and interpretation with international organizations in Tirana. Furthermore, she has presented her research at various regional and international scientific conferences, where she has shared her insights into translation studies.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3014-0667
Abstract
This paper aims to demonstrate that, like the original author, a translator of children’s literature (hereafter CH. L.) possesses a distinct style or idiolect, shaped by both linguistic and extralinguistic expectations. The study focuses on the first three books of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, translated into Albanian by Amik Kasoruho, who is renowned for his contributions to the translation of classic adult literature. Given the study’s scope, the analysis will concentrate exclusively on Kasoruho’s creative use of the lexicon in the Albanian translation. Both internal and external factors are considered to identify and analyze translator Kasoruho’s idiolect at the lexical level. Internally, sentences containing words and phrases with common patterns (e.g., archaic terms, dialectal expressions, phraseological units, substandard words) are selected from the target text. These are compared with their counterparts in the source text to determine whether such patterns reflect the author’s style or the translator’s linguistic preferences. Externally, these lexical clusters are assessed against the norms of children’s literature translation (Ch. L. T.) to ascertain whether the translator adhered to or deviated from these norms. The findings suggest that the translator’s linguistic idiosyncrasies significantly influence the translation process.
Keywords:
Amik Kasoruho, children’s literature translation, idiolect, lecixal level, norms, translator-centred approachReferences
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AAB College, Kosovo
Assist. Prof. Dr. Aida Alla is a lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, AAB College, where she teaches courses such as Translation Theory, Translation Practice, and Syntax. Her academic expertise lies in comparative linguistics, with a focus on English-Albanian translation studies. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Tirana, where her dissertation focused on comparative analysis of the linguistic structures in English and Albanian, through the lens of translation equivalence. Her research examined how syntactical, stylistic, and cultural elements are rendered in literary translations from English into Albanian. In addition to her academic work, Aida Alla has extensive professional experience in translation and interpretation with international organizations in Tirana. Furthermore, she has presented her research at various regional and international scientific conferences, where she has shared her insights into translation studies.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3014-0667
