Desmet (foreign languages and literature, Tunghai U., Taiwan) presents a study that considers the way English books for girls were translated in Dutch from 1946-1995. She analyzes a bibliographical database of 10,000 titles of translated and original Dutch fiction for girls, focusing on the development of the genre, the source languages, the Flemish-Dutch relationship, the proportion of fiction series, and the role of publishers. She then provides case studies of three different types of narrative fiction for girls, organized by status, and how status affects translation: formula series fiction (The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High), girls' classics such as Little Women, and award-winning books such as Sarah, Plain and Tall. She argues that varied translation strategies support different educational goals and focuses on foreign elements that may be problematic for readers.
