[HPforGrownups] Translation questions...

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44839

At 02:39 01/10/02 +0000, brainiac613 wrote:

>Has anyone else here read any non-English translations of the HP
>books? What did you think?

In order of experience (believe me, I don't mean to show off!)

I've read a few chapters of GoF in Polish (in which I'm fluent), borrowed 
from my sister-in-law when she and my brother were visiting from Poland 
last October.

(Slight aside: It was my introduction to the written Potterverse, just as 
the movie hype was building up. I'd refused to read the books before (for 
one thing, they'd been presented to me as "fantasy", which isn't a genre 
I'm keen on, and for another, all the HP fans I knew at that time were 
known to me primarily as Pratchett fans, and his work doesn't appeal to me 
*at all*), and it was only after seeing the movie with my nephew that I 
realised that the book had been completely misrepresented to me! I bought 
PS on my way home from the cinema, and the remaining three books the next 
day after I'd finished reading PS.)  :-)

Anyway, I browsed through my sister-in-law's Polish translation (I recall 
reading the World Cup chapter for sure; I'd heard of "Quidditch" from the 
movie hype and was curious what it was about) and was unimpressed. My 
primary concern was that although it was clear the time frame was "now", 
the dialogue was translated not only very stiffly and formally, but it was 
archaic, perhaps from 100 years ago. It was a joy to find when seeing the 
MTMNBN, and then reading the books, that the kids actually spoke idiomatic 
late-20th century English! I do recall that I prefer the translated name of 
the Weird Sisters (performers at the Yule Ball) , which roughly translates 
back to English as Whining Shrews (in Polish, it was Jeczace Jedze, which 
is of course alliterative).

I've read bits of PS/SS in German (my German reading is *exceptionally* 
poor; I've never had any formal training in the language but for one reason 
or another I understand about 70% of the dialogue of German films, for 
instance) and didn't like it. The cadence somehow felt all wrong for me, 
perhaps because I don't have much of a "feel" for the language.

I recently read the whole of GoF in French (in which I'm fluent), borrowed 
from the local library. I was amused by the changed names, and the Sphinx's 
riddle was well done (I don't recall the clues, but the result was still 
araignée, i.e. spider). The translator didn't do too good a job with the 
Riddle name (which of course had to tie in to the Voldemort anagram from 
Book Two). I've thought about trying to find something better for my own 
amusement but have never had the time.  BTW the ancestor/descendant and 
wand order problems had been sorted out. :-) Overall, though, it flowed 
quite pleasantly, although I skipped the whole Yule Ball chapter, so I 
never discovered how they translated "Weird Sisters". ;-)

I also have smatterings of Italian and Spanish, although I've not yet found 
the books anywhere to see what I make of them. :-)

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, UK, the Polyglot AKA Polyidiot