“Black Holes” in Comprehension, or on the Complexity of the Translated Text in Children’s Reception

Edyta Manasterska-Wiącek
Maria Curie-Sklodovska University - Lublin, (Poland)

https://doi.org/10.53656/for21.14diri

Abstract. The aim of the article is to investigate the effect of vocabulary items that are difficult in reception on comprehension and evaluation of the whole literary text by children. Apart from focusing on ambiguous lexis complicating reception, the paper reflects upon the benefits of investigating such vocabulary in terms of translator education at the graduate level. The analysis was made on the basis of the Polish translation of the poem Мороз и морозец by S.V. Mikhalkov translated by L. Lewin. In order to compare the relationship between the text’s reception and the density of ambiguous vocabulary the author confronts the reactions of actual readers to the two translations – Lewin’s and her own. While the former is dense in ambiguous items, the latter is, on purpose, lexically simple. The participants of the study, children, were asked questions and involved in a discussion focusing on meanings of selected words and their impressions from the reception of the two translations. The interview led to conclusions on the influence of potentially ambiguous vocabulary on the actual reception of the whole text.
Keywords: translator education; literary translation; translation practice; child; children’s reception

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