Translating Idioms in Children's Literature : A Case Study on Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

Abstract

The focus of this study is on the translation of idioms from English to Turkish in Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series. The study aims to identify different types of idioms and describe the translator's idiom translation procedures in the target text. In this study, descriptive analysis is applied to examine the types of idioms and translation strategies used in the books to translate the idiomatic expressions. The data is analyzed by classifying the types of idiomatic expressions, using McCarthy and O'Dell's (2002) framework of idiom types. In addition, the data is analyzed by using Venuti's concept of domestication and foreignization (1995). The examples from this study are evaluated by classifying each sentence that has idiomatic meaning according to the theory, marking the example by considering the most have idioms, explaining the types of idioms and explaining the strategies employed by the translator in translating the books. The translator employed Mona Baker's (2011) idiom translation strategies, with translating the idiom by paraphrase being the most common.