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Mary Howitt’s Translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales

Persson, Hannah LU (2022) p.189-225
Abstract

Hannah Persson’s essay looks at the early reception in England of Denmark’s most famous writer Hans Christian Andersen, showing how Andersen was (mis)represented in England as a result of the particular inflection given to his work by his translator, Mary Howitt. Examining Howitt’s praxis as a translator, Persson concludes that her (mis)understanding of Andersen’s tales as primarily intended for children led her to excise those elements which she deemed unfit for a young audience. Persson also shows the ideological charge by which translation could be marked at the time, a charge which meant that texts were not merely moved from one language to another but also appropriated and repurposed, by design or on occasion simply by accident,... (More)

Hannah Persson’s essay looks at the early reception in England of Denmark’s most famous writer Hans Christian Andersen, showing how Andersen was (mis)represented in England as a result of the particular inflection given to his work by his translator, Mary Howitt. Examining Howitt’s praxis as a translator, Persson concludes that her (mis)understanding of Andersen’s tales as primarily intended for children led her to excise those elements which she deemed unfit for a young audience. Persson also shows the ideological charge by which translation could be marked at the time, a charge which meant that texts were not merely moved from one language to another but also appropriated and repurposed, by design or on occasion simply by accident, for a different cultural context.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print
pages
37 pages
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
external identifiers
  • scopus:85136309116
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-99127-2_8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a692e8c9-39ea-4e9f-acd2-4475d6857fa1
date added to LUP
2022-09-07 15:29:57
date last changed
2022-09-07 15:29:57
@inbook{a692e8c9-39ea-4e9f-acd2-4475d6857fa1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Hannah Persson’s essay looks at the early reception in England of Denmark’s most famous writer Hans Christian Andersen, showing how Andersen was (mis)represented in England as a result of the particular inflection given to his work by his translator, Mary Howitt. Examining Howitt’s praxis as a translator, Persson concludes that her (mis)understanding of Andersen’s tales as primarily intended for children led her to excise those elements which she deemed unfit for a young audience. Persson also shows the ideological charge by which translation could be marked at the time, a charge which meant that texts were not merely moved from one language to another but also appropriated and repurposed, by design or on occasion simply by accident, for a different cultural context.</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, Hannah}},
  booktitle    = {{Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{189--225}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  title        = {{Mary Howitt’s Translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99127-2_8}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-030-99127-2_8}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}