Translation and adaptation for Maltese adults and children respectively of Christopher Columbus’s letter on his first voyage, “Carta del almirante Cristóbal Colón a D. Luis de Santángel (1)”

Abstract

Translating for adults versus translating for children: what are the differences when translating for a dual audience? This study aims at answering this particular question. The first step of my research was to try to find resources about these differences. These resources then helped me in the translation of Columbus’s letter for an adult target reader and for a child target reader. To mention some of the differences in both processes, these include changes in the title, differences in the lexicon used, differences in the sentence structures and length of paragraphs, the use of illustrations in the children’s translation, and much more. In fact, one can say that when we talk about translation for children, we are looking more at an adaptation rather than a translation. Therefore, this study also serves as an eye-opener about the ethics of translation and the rights a translator has; is it ethical to twist the text in order to accommodate the audience? Does the translator have the right to adapt the text according to the target reader? Therefore, is the translator considered more a writer than a mere translator? In other words, from this dissertation numerous other topics can tackle topics such as ethics in translation and the role of the translator as an intermediary or a re-writer in the case of adaptations.