Title: The Manifestation of the Interactive Register Feature in the Translation of Children’s Literature: A Comparative Study of Three Chinese Versions of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories

Abstract: This paper investigates the interactive register feature of children’s literature based on Kipling’s Just So Stories. It first examines how interaction is embodied in the book’s register, especially in terms of linguistic features such as vocatives, tones, and colloquialism, based on which it then compares three Chinese versions. It is argued that interaction is an important register feature of children’s literature and it is essential for translators to reproduce it in translation. The translators can imitate the social role and tone of the author, and they can also read the translation aloud to children, by which they can better interact with them.

Keywords: translation of children’s literature, register, interaction, Just So Stories

Author: Xuemei Chen, Ph. D. Candidate, Department of Translation, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China.