TRANSLATING PROPER NOUNS: ROALD DAHL’S THE BFG IN ROMANIAN
TRANSLATING PROPER NOUNS: ROALD DAHL’S THE BFG IN ROMANIAN

Summary/Abstract: This article covers the translation of proper nouns, more specifically character names, in children’s texts and the implications of such an undertaking. Much like the title of a text contributes to the reader’s first impression of what he/she is going to read, names represent the first contact with the characters. The manner in which a reader perceives a character and the key in which he/she interprets the character’s actions in the economy of the entire text largely depends upon the translation choices made in respect to the character’s name. Left as such, translated or completely replaced, names are an essential component in the texture of a text, with a major impact on the overall reading experience. This paper looks at the names of the characters in the children’s novel The BFG and in its three translations into Romanian. The Romanian translators’ choices are analysed in the second half of this article in an attempt to highlight the main strategies employed and their effect in the economy of the text.

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