Traduzione, infanzia e genere

The theoretical and critical study of the translation of children’s literature emerged as a discrete academic field only recently. If the first theoretical studies date back to the 1960s and the 1970s, the field reached its full academic legitimacy within Translation Studies only in the last two decades. This research is also – and almost inevitably – affected by the peculiarities of children’s and young adult literature. After presenting the main characteristics of this specific literary production, the first part of this paper traces the development of research in the field, by providing a historical overview, describing the evolution of theoretical approaches, and highlighting the main areas of research. In particular, two key topics are discussed into more detail: the translation of “culture", and social and ethical issues in translating for children and young adults. The review of existing studies highlights the major research trends and combines with some remarks on possible future research developments. It also reveals an increasing interest in the social, ethical, and ideological implications of the translation of children’s literature, through different approaches (e.g., postcolonial, ecological, gendered). The second part of the paper is devoted to the translation of children’s literature from a gendered perspective, as an example of this kind of concerns. The contacts and connections between the translation of children’s literature and gendered approaches to translation are first outlined, so as to provide a reference framework. A closer look at the theoretical debate on gender and the translation of children’s literature leads to a historical overview of recent studies investigating the translation of children’s literature from the perspective of gender and to a review of the different lines of inquiry pursued over the years.