Domesticating the Trauma of War in Translation

The paper makes a comparative study of the novel ‘Once’ written in English for children by Morris Gleitzman and its Italian translation. First a brief examination is made of what is meant by the terms ‘domestication’ and foreignization’ in translation. Domesticating a text aims a bringing the text through translation closer to the culture of the implied reader, to the image of childhood of that culture and to the established canons governing children’s literature in that country. Foreignization is a strategy that aims at preserving as much of the linguistic and cultural differences as possible of the original. Then some considerations are made concerning the two cultures lying behind the languages in question, with particular reference to how such cultural differences affect childhood. The analysis proper starts with an examination of the book covers, in consideration of the fact that covers, as part of the paratext, play an important role in the presentation of a book on the market. The analysis of the text proceeds by identifying three phenomenon that have brought about significant changes in the Target Text. Some selected examples show several differences between the original and its translation in the syntax, the register and the linguistic creativity. In general the three phenomenon point to a process of normalization. Finally it is concluded that in the translation of this novel a domesticating strategy has been used which has adapted the text in order to make it more acceptable to the Italian child reader, or at least to what Italian adults believe is more suitable for such readers. The trauma of war present in the Italian version has, consequently, been rendered somewhat less harsh and shocking.