Uri Orlev, the winner of the 1996 Hans Christian Anderson Award, is the most widely known Israeli author of children's books. Eight of his children's books have been translated into English, the largest number of any Israeli author who writes for children: six deal with Holocaust themes while two are contemporary picture books. To date, Orlev has written thirty books for children and three for adults in Hebrew. Like the tip of an iceberg, slightly over a quarter of Orlev's work is visible to the English reading public. Why were certain books chosen for translation? Are the untranslated texts inferior to those that have been translated, or are non-literary criteria at work? Does the choice to translate a text into English reflect something intrinsic in the text, or in the society that chooses to translate or reject a particular text? This paper examines Orlev's untranslated works, particularly the works of fantasy, while attempting to find answers to these questions.
History
Journal
The Looking Glass : New Perspectives on Children's Literature
ISSN
1551-5680
Volume
8
Issue
2
Publisher
La Trobe University
Section Title
Jabberwocky
Author Biography
Eve Tal is completing her graduate work in children's literature at Hollins University and holds a Master's Degree in Education. She has published critical articles in The Lion and the Unicorn and Bookbird , as well as several children's books in Hebrew. She is an adjunct professor at the online American Public University where she teaches a course in Holocaust Literature and Educational Pedagogy.
Date Created
2010-03-15
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Data source
OJS data migration 2025: https://ojs.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/180
