Translating for Children during the Cold War: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in Franco’s Spain and Chairman Mao’s China

Julia Lin Thompson

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Chapter 8 Translating for Children during the Cold War

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in Franco’s Spain and Chairman Mao’s China

In: Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

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Julia Lin Thompson

Julia Lin Thompson
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4259-7656

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 204–235

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004728196_010

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Abstract

With specific reference to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), this work examines the translation of American children’s classics in Spain and China during the high Cold War years between 1945 and the mid-1960s. By tracing the censorship and translation history of Twain’s work in the two authoritarian regimes, this study discovers that the reception of Tom Sawyer in each political context did not necessarily correlate with the regimes’ diplomatic relationship with the United States. Meanwhile, despite the censorship policies imposed by the regimes, the literary professionals dedicated to the production of the translations in both contexts were capable of adopting strategies to resist the power of the state, based on their own views of what good translations for children should be. Through the comparative analysis, this work advocates for a more nuanced approach to the Cold War and its impact on translating for children in national contexts.

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Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Series: New Perspectives on the Cold War, Volume: 13

Cover Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004728196

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 17 Jun 2025

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Part 1 Book Diplomacy and Power in the International System

Part 2 Publishers and Literary Agents

Part 3 Translation and the Role of Translators

Part 4 Censorship, Propaganda, and Informal Diplomacy

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Chapter 8 Translating for Children during the Cold War

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in Franco’s Spain and Chairman Mao’s China

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

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