Alice in Wonderland - Bruno Osimo, traduzioni, semiotica della ...

kind of cheese (DE-BUB, DE-ENZ, FR) are as pointless as the literal
translation (es, br, it). This is, by the way, the only case where the Brazilian
translator deviates from her adaptive strategy.
The Dormouse may evoke connotations of sleepiness in English even
if the reader does not know exactly what kind of animal it is. The name
sounds a bit like dorm(itory), which seems to be a rather obvious
association, at least for teenage children in England. In German, there are
several names for the animal in question, of which Schlafmaus (DE-BUB)
and, particularly, Siebenschläfer (DE-TEU) seem the most appropriate in
this context because the names refer to schlafen (“to sleep”). The name
Haselmaus, although zoologically correct, seems as unmotivated as the
respective equivalents in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian.
The Mock Turtle (which introduces itself by saying that it used to be a
Real Turtle once) is a particular challenge for any translator. In Germany,
where Mockturtle(suppe) seems to have disappeared from the shelves of
supermarkets and delicatessen shops, the referent itself will appear
extremely strange to the readers, especially to children. Teutsch (DE-TEU)
therefore creates an Oxtail Turtle, which preserves the reference to soup
(important in the context) and makes recognition easier. A False (Soup)
Turtle (DE-ENZ, DE-REM, es, br, it) is consistent with the illustrations,
which show a turtle with a calf’s head, but not quite coherent for readers
who do not know that mock-turtle soup is made of veal broth. Therefore,
the French translator created an ingenious compound referring precisely to
this aspect.
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