Pippi går på kafferep - En studie av Astrid Lindgrens stil och stilnivåer i arabisk översättning

The aim of this comparative study is to examine difficulties in translation of stylistic levels in children's literature from Swedish to Modern Standard Arabic. The study concentrates on one chapter from the famous and in its time controversial children's book about Pippi Långstrump and the Arabic translation of the same chapter. The essay starts with discussing different norms and linguistic differences in stylistic levels in Swedish and Arabic and moves on to describing the style of the source text. The analysis deals with the main character's language, which in the original work contain a lot of different stylistic levels, used to criticize social norms and structures in a humorous way. The analysis focuses on five quotes from the main character which have stylistic significance, and then compares style and stylistic level with the Arabic translation. The results show that due to linguistic structures and norms, the translation is written in a higher level than the original and holds great difficulties in imitating the switches between different stylistic levels. These difficulties lead to a loss of some satirical characteristics and social references existing in the source text. Since these elements often address the adult reader more than the child, this study concludes that a grown-up reading the Arabic translation, will get a different reading experience and comprehension than one reading the original text