Breaking It Down

I have read a lot of books for this little project of mine.  A LOT of books.  Once I figured out how to find and then get my hands on some of the translated titles I was coming across it seemed with a little bit of digging and legwork there was no shortage of translated picture books out there.  My local library had some.  Eastern’s library had a bunch.  And I became the bane of my library when I discovered how many books I could get my hands on via MELCAT, the state wide library lending program in Michigan.  In just a few months I’d collected nearly three hundred books to read, review, ponder and analyze.

So then what?  I had to figure out a way to make sense of it and be able to share the best (and maybe not the best) of what I’d found.  After picking out my “must share” books, I began to see some patterns emerging and realized if I came up with some very broad categories I could cover a lot of different types of books and ideas.  This would also give me the ability to share more books in a shorter period of time.

Over the next few months, I’ll be discussing books based on seven different categories I’ve come up with.  In order of how I plan to present them, the categories and a description of them in my own words follows.

Folktales, Myths, Fairy Tales

Folklore, myths, fairy tales – they are the building blocks of cultures, language and literature worldwide.  And without diving too deeply into the debate of whether they evolved under polygenesis or monogenesis, there is no denying that similar stories (for example a creation story) are part of nearly every culture that ever existed.  Further, those stories very often share similar characteristics that allow for a basis of comparison.  The similarities allow the connection to be seen and the differences allow us to learn about the culture they come from.  These types of stories are a rich source of material when it comes to translated texts because there is a desire to learn about other cultures through the stories that are woven into the fabric of who they are – they connect us.  We come across these stories all the time without every even realizing we’re being exposed to a translated tale (thank you Disney!).  For this category I strayed from those most common version of tales into picture books that combine pictorial elements of their culture with the story.

“The Hits”

While the translated market only makes up a very small percentage of the United States’ publishing market (and the picture book genre only a fraction of that) there are some translated books that have been incredibly successful.  What is even more interesting to consider is if the average reader (and parent) even realizes that some of these are translated books.  From personal experience, I can’t begin to recall how many story times I attended that featured Press Here during which I have no idea the book hailed from France.  I also have multiple teacher friends that included The Rainbow Fish in many lesson plans who were shocked when I told them the story was written by Swiss author Marcus Pfister.  Both these books have been translated into numerous languages and produced follow-up titles.  The question then becomes, why these?  And one step further, if these do so well (and setting aside the argument if it’s good or bad that people aren’t even realizing they’re translated) why not others?

Similar to single titles that have made a splash in the US publishing market are series that were created in one country, reached massive popularity there and then have been translated into many different languages and distributed worldwide.  Some of the series that I looked at dated back almost fifty years and were translated into English well after publication in their country of origin – why?  And further, what do some of these books have that lead to their popularity?  Is there an "it" factor that guarantees success?

 

Controversy

When I came up with the “controversy” category in it were books that I felt contained what are often labeled “adult” topics which are seen as not appropriate for children or their literature. Considering picture books are geared at the “8 and under” crowd (not taking into account longer more detailed graphic novels which I decided not to consider as part of this project because of their length and complexity), those published in the United States don’t often take on such topics as death, politics, war, loneliness, abandonment, gender and marriage controversy (to name just a few) in such a blatant and bold way.  The translated books in this category, though, do not apply ‘kid gloves’ when approaching such topics.  When looking at these books I hoped to then determine why these titles were translated and how they are received in the United States.  Is there a lack of similar material (even though it’s wanted) which has caused books like these to be translated?  How are the received in the US?  More than one of the titles I have included have found themselves on the “banned” list due to content, did they face similar criticism in their country of origin?

Outside the Box

There was no end to the creativity I found in the books that I examined, but I felt that some deserved a category all their own for being “outside the box” of what you normally expect to find in picture books.  These were the books that I came across that I wanted to share with others simply because they were different, the fact that they were translated and came from around the world was just a bonus!  This category is my answer to the critics of translated literature saying that it is “weird” or that there’s really nothing special about it that we don’t already have here.   The uniqueness of these books is what earned them a spot in this category. 

Wordless

While it may seem like an odd choice, after reading so many books I felt very strongly about including the “Wordless” category.  The more books I read, the more I realized just how different this project was because it specifically analyzes picture books.  Pictures are an entire language of their own!  I have developed an entirely new respect for the complexity of picture books through this project.  While the words themselves they contain are translated from one language to another, the pictures remain the same but the way they are “read” by an audience does translate them in my opinion.  Subtle details, colors, lines and choice of perspective view can be translated differently by a reader of the original book (called the source) as how they are viewed by someone from a different place and culture.  When pictures speak a thousand words what language are in they in?

Lost in Translation

I wanted to fall in love with every translated book I read, I honestly did.  But there were some that well, left me scratching my head a bit.  A few left me frustrated trying to figure out why this particular story was ever what a publisher chose to use as an example of translated literature.  It was those stories that I felt are most often held up as examples of why we don’t have more translated literature  - because it’s not up to American standards or quality, or that it’s just weird.  (And yes, a few of these were just weird)  Some of them I found a disconnect between the pictures and the story, something just didn’t match up.  (As a side note, this isn’t unique to translated picture books, on a regular basis an author of the story has little or no contact or interaction with the person tasked with illustrating the book.)  A few of them may have been appropriate at the time and location they were first published but not be the best for a modern audience who fails to realize the initial intended audience.  A few may simply be a cultural disconnect – something that was acceptable and understandable where it originated but does not “read” the same here.  I want to clearly state that I don’t think any of these books are “bad” I just think that something was lost or is missing from their original publication to their translated form.  And one step further, there's nothing wrong with that, in fact there can be something appealing in the dissonance these texts may create.

Kristi’s Favorites

Have you ever read a book, closed the back cover and had this mixed up sense of sadness because it was over, joy because you’d found something that spoke to you for some reason (with a twist of confusion sometimes for the inability to pinpoint exactly what it was), frustration that it’s taken you to this point in your life to find the book in the first place and eagerness to share your discovery with everyone and anyone you can find?  That’s what these books were for me.  Some made me laugh, some made me think, a few touched my heart with their message and a number of them amazed me with their creativity and effort.  The other thing that they all had in common was my sadness that it took me doing this project to even find them in the first place!  But true to form that didn’t keep me down for long and I quickly realized the opportunity I now had to share these titles with others. 

I realize these are very broad and general categories and many of the books that I'll mention could easily fit in more than one category.  And I'm honestly not a huge fan of categories in the first place, especially in literature as I think they can be somewhat limiting.  But when faced with this much material, it seemed like the most clearcut way to be able to present it.  I am in no way trying to limit any of these titles to just these categories or into the specific category I've placed it.  

I will be doing an introductory post on each topic and then two to four additional posts that could be considered ways of categorizing my categories.  While I can’t possibly cover all the books I’ve read, each category contains at least twelve books that I found important enough to share for some specific reason.  Again, as I mentioned in my last post, I would love to hear from you if you know a title that might fit in any of my categories.  Or if you’d like additional suggestions that didn’t quite make it to my blog but I still loved, I’m happy to share more ideas!

I’m planning on posting blogs on Tuesdays and Fridays, but if that changes I will be sure to mention it before it happens.  Just like my last post, not all will be this lengthy.  Additionally, will try to include links to books, authors and other relevant data.  As I mentioned, if you want to find these books, I promise they’re out there!  My own home library is now overflowing as I own copies of every book that I’m planning on discussing, but I originally found I could borrow almost every title through a library in my state if I could be patient enough for it to make its way to me.  You can also check out local bookstores, amazon and I had lots of luck through used books sellers online. The best way to make an impression on the publishing industry that we need more translated books is through our dollars.

I’ll be back here Tuesday to kick off our “Once Upon A Time” translated adventure!