The Translation of Young Adult Fiction Featuring Prominent Transgender Characters

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the intersection between translation and the representation of transgender identities by focusing on the translation of young adult fiction featuring transgender characters. The following research question informs this study: Does a young adult novel with (a) transgender character(s) present particular translation problems in respect of the representation of gender identities through characterization? This thesis is motivated by the fact that this area of research is still significantly unexplored. In order to contribute to the existing research, this thesis centers around the identification of translation problems in and the translation of fragments of I Wish You All The Best, a young adult novel featuring a transgender protagonist. This was done by means of a translation-oriented text analysis with a focus on characterization. In order to establish typical solutions to the identified translation problems, a discussion of two existing translations of novels featuring transgender characters is carried out. The analyses will be preceded by a discussion of important theoretical aspects, which involve the concept of gender and how this intersects with representation and translation, as well as an investigation of the nature of (transgender) young adult fiction in the Dutch and English literary systems and its translation dynamics. This study shows that characterization plays an important role in young adult novels featuring transgender characters. Therefore, translation problems need to be approached with careful consideration of the characterization of the characters.