The purpose of this thesis will be to substantiate the claim that Roald Dahl, the author of humorous writings for children, is simultaneously an avid creator of grotesque fiction. My argument is based on the premise that unless one views Dahl's texts in terms of their grotesque influence, critical evaluation of his work inevitably becomes reduced to a question of taste. A diachronic overview of the term "grotesque" is presented beginning with its delineation of an artistic mode in early Rome to its Rabelaisian extensions during the sixteenth century. The origins of the word are established, and its changing meaning throughout history is examined. A synchronic approach to the study follows, tracing both modern and post-modern theories of the grotesque. Of particular importance to the survey is Bakhtin's Rabelais and His World. By emphasizing the "positive, regenerating, creative" powers of laughter, Rabelais comes closest to defining the comic grotesque as embodied in Dahl's fiction. The final portion of the thesis is devoted to an interpretation of such texts as The Twits, George's Marvelous Medicine, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl's treatment of character, his development of plot, and his use of language are discussed in relation to previous theories of the grotesque. A psychological defense of the genre is offered as a conclusion to the study. Ultimately, the grotesque will be viewed in its cathartic role: helping children work through feelings of oppression in a world governed by adult authority.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 12, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65)

Stuttgart, FH, Diplomarb., 1991.

Stuttgart, FH, Diplomarb., 1991.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Few people realize exactly how complicated the translation of children’s poetry is. Translators do not only have to adhere to the young readers’ desires and satisfy the adult critics, but are constantly confronted with choices concerning the translation of the ‘play-element’ (structure) and the ‘visual element’ (content) of children’s verses, i.e. the translation of cultural elements, figurative language, pun, nonce words, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme and meter. In addition, their translation strategies are continually subjective to and restricted by the visual text (illustrations) in the source texts, which interrelate with the verbal text (verses). In this descriptive, systematic analysis the Afrikaans and French translations of Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss’s rhyming picture books and Roald Dahl’s verse fragments are compared to one another and the source texts in order to identify the various translation strategies and theoretical translation approaches used by the various Afrikaans and French translators, to make concrete observations about the translation of children’s poetry that can be useful for translators, and to establish if it is indeed possible to create translations of children’s verses that remain true to the ‘spirit’ of the original poetic texts, can function as autonomous texts in the target system, and that can supplement the Afrikaans and French children’s literature systems. __________________________________________________________________________ / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Min mense besef hóé ingewikkeld die vertaling van kinderverse eintlik is. Vertalers moet nie net tegelykertyd aan jong lesers se behoeftes voldoen en volwasse kritici tevrede stel nie, maar word ook deurgaans gekonfronteer met keuses wat betref die vertaling van die spel-element (struktuur) en visuele element (inhoud) van kinderverse, o.a. die vertaling van kultuurgebonde verwysings, beeldspraak, woordspel, neologisme, onomatopee, alliterasie, rym en metrum. Daarbenewens word die vertalers se vertaalstrategieë beïnvloed en beperk omdat die visuele teks (illustrasies) in die brontekste deurgaans met die verbale teks (verse) in gesprek tree. In dié deskriptiewe sisteemondersoek word die Afrikaanse en Franse vertalings van Moeder Gans se kinderrympies, Dr. Seuss se versverhale en Roald Dahl se prosimetriese kinderstories met mekaar en die brontekste vergelyk om die verskillende vertaalstrategieë en teoreties gefundeerde vertaalbenaderings wat deur die onderskeie Afrikaanse en Franse vertalers toegepas is, te identifiseer, konkrete bevindinge oor die vertaling van die kindervers te maak wat vir toekomstige vertalers van praktiese nut kan wees, en te bepaal of dit inderdaad moontlik is om vertalings van kinderverse te skep wat getrou bly aan die ‘gees’ van die oorspronklike gedigtekste, as selfstandige tekste in die doelsisteem kan funksioneer, en die Afrikaanse en Franse kinder- en jeugliteratuursisteme kan aanvul.

Text in English / This study focuses on the strategies and devices used to create humour in children’s literature. No language is a replica of another language and it is generally accepted that a translator has to be creative in order to make the Source Text (ST) meaning available to the Target Text (TT) reader. The research conducted in this study aims to fill a gap regarding the application of humour in the rather under-researched field of children’s literature. A descriptive framework was used to conduct this qualitative study in order to be able to describe the linguistic strategies and devices used to translate the English source text by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator into the Afrikaans Target Text, Charlie en die Groot Glashyser by Kobus Geldenhuys. Literary devices to create humour, employed by both the writer and the translator, were identified and analysed. Interviews and reading sessions with ST learners (English) as well as TT learners (Afrikaans) were conducted in order to observe their non-verbal reactions as well as document their verbal comments to complement the data obtained from the textual analysis. The textual analysis showed that the literary device most frequently applied in the ST was the simile and the main trend regarding the transference of humorous devices to the TT was to retain the device with formal equivalence. The most popular translation strategy was direct translation with the most important shifts identified on morphological and lexical level and shifts in expressive and evoked meaning were relatively low. With regard to the reading sessions, the most positive results from both groups of learners regarding humorous devices in the ST and TT were obtained for the device of inappropriate behaviour. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)