Mapping the Field of Children’s Literature Translation in Saudi Arabia: Translation Flow in Accordance with Socio-Cultural Norms

This research focuses on highlighting the main socio-cultural norms which determine translation flows into the field of Saudi Arabian children’s literature, and their influence on translation as a process and product. The study maps a range of key aspects related to translation and publishing practices for children’s books in Saudi Arabia.
In this thesis, a mixed-method approach is adopted which integrates both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research begins with the collection of statements from publishers in the field, with the aim of evaluating their perceptions of which factors influence their decisions and affect individual translation flow. Following this, a bibliographic data-list is compiled of the translations available in the country for children, to allow a comprehensive mapping of the field. Finally, a number of children’s books which have been translated and published by Saudi publishers are used in both their English and Arabic versions as data for a comparative analysis of the effects of translation norms on the process of translation on both paratextual and textual levels.
The methodology of this research has been constructed based on multiple theoretical backgrounds; the primary resource is Toury’s norms theory (1995/2012) although concepts from Bourdieu’s sociological approach, such as the notions of field and capital, are also used, together with elements of the translation-flow concept postulated by Heilbron (1999/2010) (Heilbron and Sapiro, 2007), and the manipulation approach discussed by Lefevere (1992/2005).
The cornerstone of this study is the empirical bibliographic data-list of the translated literature available to Saudi children, due to its significance in the fields of both children’s literature and translation in the country. Following the identification of the main social agents in the field, detailed analyses of the main four publishers were carried out by applying the case-study method. The aim of this is the evaluation of each publisher’s perceptions, capital, translation policies and influential norms, among other issues. Lastly, this research identifies the major socio-cultural factors governing the field of the translation of children’s literature, such as the Saudi laws of publication and other social and ideological forces.