Published: 2019-12-31

Translators in the Face of Linguistic and Cultural Taboos: Sexual Vocabulary in Educational Books for Children and Youth

Natalia Paprocka , Agnieszka Wandel
Dzieciństwo. Literatura i Kultura
Section: Studies
DOI https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.159

Abstract

The aim of the study presented in the article was to examine how sexuality, which is subject to a linguistic and cultural taboo, is approached in Polish translations of educational books for children and youth, and to check whether and in what respect they differ from local productions. We also took into consideration the links between the means of expression and the time of the works’ publication, their ideological profile and the age category of the intended audience. The study was carried out on a corpus of 111 books on sex education addressed to children and teenagers and published in Poland in the period between 1945 and 2018. We analysed ‘sexualisms’ (understood here as words or phraseologisms used to express the content of the sexual sphere) present in the books and referring to male and female genitals and sexual intercourse. The analysis showed that the vocabulary choices made by the authors and translators often transgressed moral standards and had a significant impact on the form and changes of common language behaviour.

Keywords:

sex education, educational books, non-fiction books, children's and young adult literature, translation, human sexuality vocabulary, human sexuality, taboos

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Citation rules

Paprocka, N., & Wandel, A. (2019). Translators in the Face of Linguistic and Cultural Taboos: Sexual Vocabulary in Educational Books for Children and Youth. Dzieciństwo. Literatura I Kultura, 1(2), 132–168. https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.159

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