Taking on Little Miss Muffet: the 'Scottification' of Classic English Children's Literature

The essay examines the Scottish versions of some classic texts of English children’s literature such as Winnie the Pooh by A.A.Milne and The Twits by Roald Dahl as they constitute a problem both in terms of their nature and their function. Defined by the publishers as “translations”, these texts clearly do not fit the traditional view of translation. Scottish children are almost certainly already familiar with and understand the English versions of these texts, and seen from a purely informative perspective these “translations” are obviously redundant. The essay shows how the Scottish translations of these English classics of children’s literature can be seen as acts of “cultural reversal” which question the exclusion of Scots from the area of education. It also considers the “liberatory potential” of these translations and the way in which their textual ambiguity construe a number of possible addressees.