The Tale of Peter Rabbit: Analyzing Shifts in Translations in their Pedagogical Context

Abstract

Literature for children is formed by the child image and ideologies of its authors and translators. These child images and ideologies are not fixed, they change over time. They can be brought across by using emotive coercion, and clearly favouring a certain group or behaviour over another. This study aims to determine how child images and ideologies are transmitted in The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902) and two of its translations, dating back to 1912 and 2002. By researching the socio-cultural time periods of the literary works and analysing the shifts between the translations, it aims to answer the question: In what way do the shifts between two translations of Peter Rabbit relate to the different child-images an ideologies present at the times of these translations? The analysis showed that the first translation used emotive coercion to add a fearful element, making the tale a moralising story favouring the obedient rabbits over the naughty one. This can be explained by the dominant Christian moral that was present in the Netherlands in 1912.