Harry Potter in translation

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The cover of Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen (Harry Potter and the Stone of the Wise Men) – the Dutch language translation of the first book, jointly published by De Harmonie and Standaard.

The Harry Potter series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling books have become some of the most widely-read works of children's literature in history, with readers of all ages and in many countries. Worldwide sales of Harry Potter books are estimated at over 300 million copies.^[1] As such, some or all of the books have been translated from the original English into other languages.

[edit] Translation process

For an authorised translation, the publisher must first negotiate and sign a contract with the authors' agents, the Christopher Little Literary Agency ^[2]. A full list of authorised publishers can be read on J. K. Rowlings website ^[3]. Translators are selected locally by the publishers.

Translators were not granted access to the books prior to their official release date in English, hence translation could only start after the English editions had been published, creating a lag of several months before the translations were made available. This necessary delay has boosted the sales of English language editions of the books to impatient fans, in countries where English is not the first language. Such was the clamour to read the fifth book that its English language edition became the first English-language book ever to top the bookseller list in France.^[4] In Italy, impatient Potter fans organised "Operation Feather", deluging the publisher Salani with feathers (reminiscent of Hogwarts' messenger owls) to demand expedited publication for the Italian translation of the seventh and final book in the series. ^[5]

Another result of the huge public demand for instant translations of the books, is the proliferation of "pirate" translations. Unauthorised translations can often be produced much faster than official translations, for several reasons: quality can be compromised, and less time is spent on editing and proofreading; the translation can be produced as a collaborative process, with several people working in parallel on different sections of the book; pirate translations can be published online, eliminating the time spent on printing and distributing official hard copies. This makes it very tempting to engage in a pirate translation, rather than wait several months for an authorised translation to be issued. However, for the very same reasons stated above, pirate translations are usually inferior to the official translations.

The high profile and demand for a high-quality local translation means that a great deal of care is often taken in the task. In some countries such as Italy, the first book was revised by the publishers and issued in an updated edition, in response to feedback from readers. In countries such as China and Portugal, the translation is conducted by a group of translators working together so as to save time. Some of the translators hired to work on the books were quite well known prior to their work on Harry Potter, such as Viktor Golyshev, who oversaw the Russian translation of the series' fifth book. Golyshev was previously best known for translating William Faulkner and George Orwell ^[6] and was known to snub the Harry Potter books in interviews and refer to them as inferior literature. The Turkish translation of books two to five was undertaken by Sevin Okyay, a popular literary critic and cultural commentator.^[7]

[edit] List of authorised translations by language

The original British English versions of the book were published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. Authorised editions exist in the following languages (including the original):

The Czech edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: literally Harry Potter and the Prince of Dual Blood

Not listed in this table is the long-planned translation into Scots Gaelic; initially scheduled for release in December 2006, it has been indefinitely delayed.^[13][14]

Some translations, such those to the extinct Latin and Ancient Greek languages, were done as academic exercises, to stimulate interest in the languages and to provide students of those languages with modern reading texts. The Ancient Greek version, according to the translator, is the longest text written in that language since the novels of Heliodorus of Emesa in the 3rd century AD,^[15] and took one year to complete.

Note that in some countries, such as Spain and India, the book has been translated into several local languages (see section on publishers); sometimes the book has been translated into two different dialects of the same language in two different countries (for example, separate Portuguese versions for Brazil and for Portugal).

In the Republic of Macedonia, Publishing House Kultura has announced that translations of books 6 and 7 would not be published due to low sales. They refused an offer of free translation from a teenage girl.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Unauthorised translations

From the first book in the series onwards, individuals have illegally produced unauthorized "pirate" translations of the novels, some of which have been released far ahead of the official translation in some languages.^[16] One notable example occurred in Venezuela in 2003, when an illegal translation of the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, appeared soon after the release of the English version and five months before the scheduled release of the Spanish translation. The pirate translation was apparently so bad that the translator added messages, including "Here comes something that I'm unable to translate, sorry," and "I'm sorry, I didn't understand what that meant" in some sections. Two people were arrested in connection with the pirated version.^[17]

Another notable example was an internet fan translation community, Harry auf Deutsch, formed to translate the Harry Potter books into German more rapidly ^[18]. After being prevented by the German publisher from openly releasing their translations, they converted their project a community site which (1) translates the books for the enjoyment of their own members (thus avoiding copyright issues, apparently)^{[citation needed]}, (2) translates fan fiction, (3) discusses discrepancies in the official translations, and (4) creates their own lexicon.^{[citation needed]}

The agents representing J. K. Rowling have stated in the past that they cannot and do not intend to prevent individuals from translating Rowling's books for their own personal enjoyment, as long as the results are not made available to the general public.^[19]

In some countries, there have been no authorised translations into the local language, but translations not sanctioned by J. K. Rowling have been prepared and published. Such is the case, for example, in Sri Lanka, where the books have been unofficially translated into Sinhala and possibly into Tamil. ^[20]

In Iran, several unauthorised translations of the Harry Potter books exist side by side. According to one source, there may be as many as 16 Persian translations in existence concurrently [3]. Iran is not a member of the Universal Copyright Convention, so publishers are not prosecuted for publishing foreign books without respecting copyright or paying royalties. ^[21].

[edit] Fake translations

Whereas "pirate translations" are unauthorised translations of true Harry Potter books, "fake translations" have also appeared, which are published pastiches or fanfics that a foreign publisher has tried to pass off as the translation of the real book by Rowling. There have been several such books, the most famous of which is probably Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon which was written and published in China in 2002, prior to the release of the fifth book in Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Other fake Harry Potter books written in Chinese include Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll (哈利・波特与瓷娃娃 or Hālì Bōtè yǔ Cíwáwa), Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle, and Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase.^[22] In August 2007, The New York Times noted that the publication of Rowling's Deathly Hallows had inspired "a surge of peculiarly Chinese imitations," and included plot synopses and excerpts from a number of derivative works, among them Harry Potter and the Chinese Overseas Students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Harry Potter and the Big Funnel. ^[23] In Bengali, Harry Potter in Calcutta (Harry Potter Kolkataye), written by Uttam Ghosh, has appeared.^[24]

[edit] Americanisation as translation

The differences between the British and American editions of the books have sometimes been referred to as "translation" into American English. The most noted example of this is the difference in the titles of the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the UK, versus Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US. A comprehensive list of differences between the American and British editions of the books was collated at the Harry Potter Lexicon website, here: ^[25] Whether these changes are enough to count as actual translation ultimately depends on one's definition of translation. The changes are mostly simple lexical switches to reflect the different dialects: an American would still have very little problem reading the British edition, and vice versa. Other changes cannot be explained as simple lexical adaptations, but may be an attempt to adapt the text culturally to a different market - for example, the addition of a sentence describing Dean Thomas as black - or may even have entered the text as publishers' corrections (or failure to incorporate agreed corrections). Changes of this sort are common when adapting any text from British to American editions and vice versa ^[26], but in the case of the Harry Potter books, this standard practice has occasionally drawn fire ^[27].

In an Associated Press interview, Rowling described how the alterations to the American editions came about:

Rowling pretended to bang her head against the sofa in mock frustration. "SO much has been made of that," she groans, noting that it was only done where words had been used that really meant something very different to Americans. Her American editor pointed out that the word jumper — British for pullover sweater — means a kind of dress in American. She had had no idea. "He asked, 'Can we change it to sweater,' which is just as British?" That was fine with Rowling. ^[28]

Publisher Arthur Levine of Scholastic explained the changes in an interview in The New Yorker:

I wasn't trying to, quote, "Americanize" them... What I was trying to do is translate, which I think is different. I wanted to make sure that an American kid reading the book would have the same literary experience that a British kid would have." ^[29]

The same article, however, points out that some British dialect was retained in the books, and in some cases certain phrases were replaced with more stereotypical British phrases, such as "spanking good" for "cracking".

Americanisation of books is standard practice in the publishing business, and is not normally considered translation. No individual translator or editor is credited with the Americanisation of the Harry Potter books.

[edit] Issues in translation

As with many texts, the Harry Potter series presents some special challenges to translators:

[edit] Culture

The cultural environment of the book is decidedly British. The stories follow a familiar theme in British children's books, that of adventures at boarding school, and many of the cultural nuances will be unfamiliar to readers in translation. Such things require careful and creative translating.

[edit] Invented words and proper nouns

Several words and phrases in the books such as spells, incantations, magical words, items and place names were invented by Rowling. Many of the spells are drawn from or inspired by Latin, and have a certain resonance with English speakers. For example, priori incantatem (a spell which causes the last spells performed by a wand to be reproduced in reverse order) would be familiar to many English-speaking readers as the words prior (previous) and incantation (spell, charm). To create a similar effect in the Hindi version, the Sanskrit language, typical in mantras, has been used for the spells. Some translators have created new words themselves, others have resorted to transliteration.

Names such as Knockturn Alley and the Pensieve are extremely difficult to translate. The latter is a magical bowl into which memories and thoughts can be placed and examined at leisure, and is a portmanteau of two words: pensive, meaning "musingly or dreamily thoughtful", and sieve, a type of bowl with perforations through which fine particles of a substance (such as flour) may be passed to separate them from coarser ones. The name Knockturn Alley, an unsavoury area leading off Diagon Alley (the place where London's magic market is located), suggests something beaten up or twisted, and is also semi-homophonous with "nocturnally", suggesting darkness and, by extension, evil. Translators must use creativity and sensitivity in rendering such names, and some are more successful than others. If the words are simply transliterated, the shades of meaning are lost; but when new word-games are invented, they can end up sounding quite different from the original, and often reflect the translator's personal interpretation and preferences. For instance, the Turkish version of Pensieve is Düsünseli, which is a portmanteau of the words Düsünmek (to think, to imagine) and sel (a flood of water); the German version of Pensieve is Denkarium with denken meaning "to think" and aquarium the word could be something like "thinkarium"; the Swedish version of Pensieve is Minnessåll which means Memory's Sieve. The Hebrew version actually achieves a similar effect to the English in its translation of Pensieve; Pensive is הגיגית (Hagigit), which is a combination of the word הגיג (hagig) meaning a passing thought, and the word גיגית (gigit) meaning tub. The Spanish version of Death Eaters is mortífagos, from Latin morti (death) and fagos (eat); the Swedish version of Death Eaters is Dödsätare and is a working direct translation of Death Eaters.

Anagrams such as that of Tom Riddle's name that appears in the second book also do not make the transition easily into other languages. Translators have sometimes altered the names in the book in order to make the anagram work in that language. Sometimes translators manage to alter only one part of the name: Tom Riddle's middle name of Marvolo was changed to "Vandrolo" in the Hebrew edition, to "Marvoldo" in Turkish, to "Vorlost" in German, to "Sorvolo" in Spanish, to "Marvoloso" in Slovak and to "Orvoloson" in Italian. In other languages, translators replaced the name entirely for the sake of preserving the anagram: in French, Riddle's full name becomes "Tom Elvis Jedusor" an anagram of "Je suis Voldemort"; in Norwegian his name becomes "Tom Dredolo Venster, an anagram of "Voldemort den store", which means "Voldemort the Great" in English; Dutch his name becomes "Marten Asmodom Vilijn", an anagram of "Mijn naam is Voldemort" (My name is Voldemort); in Czech, his name is "Tom Rojvol Raddle", an anagram of "Já, Lord Voldemort" (I, Lord Voldemort); in Icelandic his name becomes Trevor Delgome; in Swedish the name becomes "Tom Gus Mervolo Dolder", an anagram of "Ego sum Lord Voldemort", where "ego sum" is Latin, not Swedish, for "I am" (and poor Latin besides; it's a common practice to omit "ego" in such circumstances). In Finnish his name is Tom Lomen Valedro (Ma olen Voldemort), in Hungarian the name is "Tom Rowle Denem", which is the anagram of "Nevem Voldemort" - the 'w' in the name becomes two 'v's (which in fact caused a name collision with the Death Eather Thorfinn Rowle who first appears in the seventh book and is not related to Voldemort thus in the Hungarian translation his family name was altered to Rovel). These changes to the name created problems in later books: Tom Riddle should share his first name with Tom the bartender, but this is not the case in all translations.

[edit] Plot points

In some cases, English-speaking fans have sought clues to the story's mysteries by examining the way certain parts of the books have been translated in foreign editions. A case in point is the identity of a character mentioned by initials only in the book Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The English initials R.A.B. could have belonged to several minor characters from the books, but variations on the initials in other languages gave evidence to the true identity of the mystery character: in the Dutch edition of the book R.A.B. was translated into R.A.Z., 'zwart' being Dutch for 'black'; in the Norwegian edition, R.A.B. translates to 'R.A.S.', svart being Norwegian for 'black'; and in the Finnish edition the initials were R.A.M., 'musta' being Finnish for 'black'. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, the identity of R.A.B. was resolved, and indeed his last name was Black.

Similarly, the title for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did not make it obvious whether Order referred to a group of people or to a directive. The information that it was a group of people was then determined by viewing the title in other languages. The same goes for "the Carrows", who in some translations was translated as "the siblings Carrow" and hence weren't a married couple, later Rowling revealed that it was the siblings Alecto and Amycus that were the Carrows.

Rowling released an alternative title for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for use by translators finding difficulty translating its meaning. The alternative title (in English) is Harry Potter and the Relics of Death.^[30][31]

[edit] See also

• List of fictional books within the Harry Potter series
• Parodies of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter influences and analogues

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Article from "Translorial", Part I, Part II
• The Sphinx's Song in 13 Languages
• international cover gallery
• Harry Potter name and word equivalents in many different languages
• database of Harry Potter terms and chapter titles in different languages
• Dictionary of Dutch Harry Potter terms
• Dictionary of Norwegian Harry Potter terms and names
• Harry Potter in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese Translation
• English - German Dictionary + Lexicon of Harry Potter terms and names
• Platform 9 3/4: Crown Publishing (Taiwan) site containing lists of names, books, spells, quidditch terms, etc. in Chinese and English
• Article about American English "translation"
• short article on translation differences in Harry Potter
• Harry Potter terms in Japanese
• Financial Times article
• article from The Guardian
• Petition to help publish an Esperanto translation of Harry Potter