Traductology, linguistics, and culture: the contrastive function of omissions in English-Chinese translations of the intercultural collision in Little Red Riding Hood

The study examines omissions in the English version of Little Red Riding Hood in contrast to the Chinese one. The research is aimed at studying the linguistic effects of inculturation and the choice of translation strategies to convey a truthful intercultural component. The study examines the Little Red Riding Hood story by Leray (2011) translated into Englishand Chinese languages. The Chinese version of the story was edited and published by Green and Green (1953). The analysis of the translation in a cultural context is based on the omission strategy. The analysis of semantically redundant words and sentences in the English version of Little Red Riding Hood has been carried out in contrast to the Chinese one, where no omissions were found. The purpose of the study is to analyze the relationship between the versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the evolution of European and Chinese moral ideology. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that two translations are considered in the context of the Tehrani’s (2013) method using a phylogenetic approach and the strategy of omission to determine moral codes. As a result of a comparative analysis of the target translation, ten omissions were found: four brief descriptions and six complete omissions. The omission strategy reflected the cross-cultural and informative ideological features of the two cultures. Adhering to the phylogenetic concept by Tehrani, the target language of Little Red Riding Hood was identified as English because the Chinese version of the story was translated from English (Zhengzhong Bookstore, 1967). There are also some distinguishing characteristics of the initial collision: the characteristics of the protagonist, the characteristics of the villain, the methods of deceiving the future victim by the villain and the ending options. The folk European collision of the fairy tale originates from the story The Wolf and the Children. It is also found in Chinese culture—The Girl and the Tiger; however, it is described at the level of other concepts, which confirms the genetic relationship of intercultural conflict. The nature of the extended Chinese translation testifies to the flexible structure and aesthetics of the style, in which traditions and family values play an important role, while in the English version some elements of culture are omitted due to a different mentality and structure of the language. Chinese culture is characterized by respect for elders, a tribute to traditions, and respect for people who are higher in social status. Undoubtedly, greetings in the English language carry a similar semantic load, but due to the peculiarity of its grammatical structure, omitting or transferring a greeting during translation does not harm the context of communication. Thus, it has been revealed that folk tales are a joint imprint of different cultures. The linguistic progression makes them change and adopt new information in accordance with the mentality of the people. There are three clusters of autonomous versions of the fairy tale: far Eastern, African and European; all of them are based on one common ancestor that has not been yet identified.

Caperucita y la abuela-lobo: Los cuentos de hadas queer de Alejandra Pizarnik

Near the end of her life, the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972) wrote a series of short prose works that explicitly rewrite fairy tales or take up their atmosphere and some of their elements. Such is the case of “Violario” (1971), which rewrites Little Red Riding Hood, with an emphasis on the link between violence and sexuality, and “A tiempo y no” (1968) which highlights the most sinister elements of Snow White. This last story, along with Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Hansel and Gretel are also rewritten in prose pieces, poems and in her Diaries. This article analyzes how these rewritings take place—starting with the convergences and divergences with the hypotexts—to illuminate the anomalous and queer image of childhood created by Pizarnik. --- La poeta argentina Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972) hacia el final de su vida escribe una serie de prosas breves que recuperan explícitamente cuentos de hadas, o retoman su atmósfera y algunos de sus elementos. Tal es el caso de “Violario” (1971), que reescribe Caperucita roja, con un marcado énfasis en el cruce entre violencia y sexualidad, y “A tiempo y no” (1968) que retoma y subraya los elementos más siniestros de Blancanieves. Este último cuento, junto con La bella durmiente, La sirenita y Hansel y Gretel son recuperados también en otras prosas, poemas y en los Diarios. Indagar el modo en que tienen lugar estas reescrituras, a partir de las convergencias y divergencias con sus hipotextos, iluminará zonas de la infancia anómala y queer que Pizarnik configura.

‘Once upon many times Little Red Riding Hood’: Introducing contemporary children’s literature to senior learners

Inspired by the idea of Lifelong Education, the University of the Basque Country decided to open its academic program to senior learners, creating the ‘Experience Classroom’ College. This college, aimed at people over 55 who are not currently working, offers a specific Degree in Human Sciences. One of the compulsory courses of this four-year degree is ‘Language and Literature’. The aim of this paper is to present the short-term project to teach children’s literature conducted in that course, in which we presented a general overview of the changes that have taken place over recent decades in the production of children’s narrative to senior learners. To do so, we analysed the intergenerational classic tale of the Little Red Riding Hood and compared its contemporary retellings, since this fairy tale is a shared literary reference that has been reinterpreted throughout the history of children's literature according to the social, moral, and literary concerns of each moment. After concluding that most of the learners only knew the Brothers Grimm’s versions of the tale, we read both Perrault’s and Brothers Grimm’s version and discussed their differences. In the subsequent lessons we brought 25 diverse contemporary retellings of the fairy tale to reveal that postmodern trends, a more psychological characterisation of the characters, the social criticism of the modern lifestyle as the underlying theme, humour and parody as a literary game, along with the incorporation of the visual code in its narrative and semantic construction, are some of the features that characterise contemporary children’s literature.

Real and Fake

This paper is an example of an assignment that called for a rewrite of a traditional fairy tale for a different audience. In no more than 500 words, students had to re-imagine a fairy tale of their choice and make grammatical and rhetorical choices that would speak to their chosen audience. Next, students had to describe their writing process and indicate what they learned about their language and genre knowledge as a result of their rewrite. “Real and Fake” is a rewrite of “The Little Red Riding Hood.” The student, Kai Su, decided to turn it into a horror story.