Found in Translation: Humor and Style Attributes Unveiled by Horton

Background: The popularity of Dr. Seuss books across generations and languages is worthy of introspective analysis in order to establish how well the translation adheres to the original essence that is the underlying reason for its enduring nature. This article analyses Horton Hears a Who! and its Afrikaans translation. Methods: A basic stylistic analysis of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! was conducted in order to determine whether its rhythmic nature and the meter used in the original text translate well into Afrikaans. Additionally, two extracts were used for an eye-tracking experiment whereby participants were asked to read both so that gaze behavior could be analyzed and compared between Afrikaans and English. Results: Eye-tracking results of both passages reveal that readers are comfortably within typical reading behavior and do not experience difficulty when reading the unique style of Dr. Seuss in either language. Stylistic meter does however change the position of elevated fixation durations, but made-up words and the underlying playful tone do not result in difficulty. However, text characteristics, such as length and number of syllables, and word positions, significantly affect gaze behavior. Conclusions: It is concluded that the very nature of Dr. Seuss books that makes the stories come alive for children over generations is successfully embodied in the Afrikaans translation with respect to the aspects tested and that both the serious, skillful writing and the more frivolous story-telling tone is present in the Afrikaans target text.