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26 July 2025

A Study of Translation of Children’s Literature from the Perspective of Communicative Translation Theory

Yunyi Zhang*
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1 School of Foreign Languages, Nanfang College Guangzhou, Guangzhou 510970, China
CEF 2025 , 3(6), 120–126; https://doi.org/10.18063/CEF.v3i6.708
© 2025 by the Author. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

With the growing emphasis on early education, children’s literature is gaining momentum, and the communication and exchange of children’s literature across different countries have become increasingly frequent. However, due to differences in social background, educational concepts, history, and culture, non-localized children’s literature often struggles to resonate with young readers in a new cultural context. This lack of resonance can hinder children’s engagement and limit the potential impact of otherwise meaningful stories. Peter Newmark’s theory of communicative translation, which emphasizes the reactions and feelings of target language readers, offers a valuable framework for addressing such challenges. The theory aims to make the translation have the same impact on the target language readers as the original does on the source language readers, and has significant relevance for the translation of children’s literature. In this paper, the author explores effective translation strategies from the perspective of communicative translation, aiming to enhance cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of children’s literary works.

Keywords
Communicative translation theory
Translation of children’s literature
References

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