US/UK versions

[tangawarra1]

No: HPFGUIDX 34283

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., mrgrrrargh at a... wrote:
"I HATE them! I'd prefer to have the books as JKR wrote them. 
However, we Americans tend to want things in our own toungue (can't 
think a foreigner can write better than we can *weg*) and it'd 
confuse a lot of people if Quidditch was compared to football rather 
than soccer -- and you saw the confusion we had on this list about 
public schools.

Personally I watch enough British TV to understand more idioms than 
the average person, but I'm still no expert in British anything. But 
as margaraeta said, the books let you learn more about another 
culture... and I'm glad they kept "mum" rather than changing it 
to "mom."

-SpyGameFan"

Here in Australia we have the dubious 'benefit' of very very high 
exposure to US and UK culture through the mass media. Only about 20-
30% of programming on Australian television must be locally produced -
so once you count the news, sports, and some awful soap operas, the 
rest is generally American or British, and that's just free to air 
television. Pay TV (cable / sattelite) as far as I know, have no 
restrictions.  

The football/soccer and private/public/grammar/state school 
confusions apply here also, however thanks to the high exposure to 
the many American and British forms of spoken English, it is not seen 
as an issue for concern.  I recently found a quote on the HP 
Galleries from Arthur Levine, the American editor of the Harry Potter 
series for Scholastic Inc:

"If the American reader comes to this section -- let's say the Xmas 
banquet -- and doesn't recognize a single dish, then they don't 
properly feel the wonder of the passage. Sure, they can look 
up "bangers and mash" -- or whatever -- in a reference book, but it 
won't be the same." (http://www.popogo.com/hol/words/c117.htm)

In my opinion reading the unfamiliar names and descriptions of the 
dishes in the many feasts ADDS to the spectacle and wonder of the 
scene, not detracts from it! Consider the classics. How dull and 
lifeless would a Jane Austen text be if an editor took it upon 
himself to modernise the text, the atmosphere and ethos of the work 
would be completley destroyed. The same is true for HP. What I love 
most about reading is immersing myself in the world the author has 
created, I dont want that world to be forced to fit my cultural, 
social or linguistic experience.  

Is adapting text to suit a target audience common? Just out of 
curiosity - are US novels generally adapted to suit other English 
speaking markets? In Australia I can only assume that it not a common 
practice thanks to our scant population of just 19 million. 
Ecconomically it would never be viable, to which I say - thank 
goodness for that! 

Rachel