When Animal Farm Is Converted into Children’s Literature: An Animated Film and Four Chinese Translations in Taiwan
Author: Wei-Ching Lai (Department of Children English Education, National Taipei University of Education, Associate Professor)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 68, No. 2
Date：September 2023
Pages：125-145
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6210/JNTNU.202309_68(2).0005
Abstract：
This study explores the existing models of children’s literature. The texts examined are the 1954 British animated film adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, made by John Halas and Joy Batchelor, and four Chinese translations for children published in the 1990s and 2000s. For young audiences, complex political allegories must be modified to ensure that they are appropriate and understandable. These necessary changes highlight the features that distinguish children’s literature from adults’ and characterize the existing models of children’s literature. This study employs three theories to analyze the texts. Linda Hutcheon’s study on adaptation justifies the discussion of the socio-historical context of the animated film; Itamar Evan-Zohar’s polysystem theory is employed to discuss the basic structure of the literary polysystem, which connects the discussions of the animated film and the Chinese translations. Analysis of the translations and the animated film reveals their similar features; the two major differences are their political tendencies and modes of representation.
Keywords：Animal Farm, children’s literature, literary polysystem, translations for children
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References：
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