Translation and asymmetry: Manolito gafotas and its translation into english as an example of interventionism

Abstract

Manolito Gafotas (1994) is a series of Spanish novels written by Elvira Lindo. They tell the adventures of a kid and his family and friends in Carabanchel (Alto), a working class district in Madrid.
These novels inspired two movies in 1999 and 2004 and a TV series. The novels describe typical Spanish characters in late 20th century Spain. lt is a children's series mainly read by children, but also widely read by adults, which has been a best seller and ¡is translated into several languages, English and French among others. Humor, irony, sarcasm, smiles and complicity with an adult reader make of this series of books a very interesting piece of literature ideal for a compared analysis and a reception study. Following Venuti's concepts of foreignization and domestication it would be very interesting to find out how the translation process has been carried out by the translators, and if that process was the translators' or the editor's decision. An analysis of how cultural aspects such as names, nicknames, foods or habits have been dealt with by the translator would yield very important feedback on how the Spanish culture is filtered by a different language and a different culture.