5 ms·

It is also absolutley filled with the n-word (at least my Swedish edition from the 90's), which always makes for an interesting challenge having to censor and c

It is also absolutley filled with the n-word (at least my Swedish edition from the 90's), which always makes for an interesting challenge having to censor and come up with alternative words as you go.

DanBC 6y ago
I found this, where a parent edits out the word in an audioplay version: https://koneensaatio.fi/en/when-pippi-said-the-n-word/ https://koneensaatio.fi/en/when-pippi-said-the-n-word/ > I mentioned the situation later to a colleague, who said that the same problem had come up in the family, but they had tackled it with a practical solution. Working with sound, this colleague processed the audiobook with editing software to find out whether the N-words could be cut out smoothly. That being done successfully, the children could then listen to the edited version. The problem was solved. I like this part: > “For my daughter, Pippi is a really empowering character, so I can’t just not read the book, because censorship would only make her more interested. So I edit the text while reading it,” he says.
- krstffr 6y ago
  Yeah, it's a really awesome book and censoring the language as you go isn't that hard really!
sorokod 6y ago
Is that about Pippi's father being a king of the natives?
- krstffr 6y ago
  Yes mainly. Pippi, Tommy and Annika also goes to his little island where he is king, and the language in that chapter is not the greatest!
- ThinkingGuy 6y ago
  In the (US English) versions that were read to me as a child, I seem to recall it being rendered "King of the Pygmies."
  - SamBam 6y ago
    My Penguin version (1997) has "King of the Cannibals." Not much better -- probably worse, in fact, since they aren't even depicted as cannibals, so the name isn't in any way necessary. But I guess "King of the Islanders" would be boring.
tokai 6y ago
I know it's not that much better, but it's not the actual n-word right?
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  It's the Swedish "neger", which was the uncontroversial term for black people at the time. Times have changed!
- liversage 6y ago
  I'm Danish so i only know the Danish version but I think it's the same word as in Swedish. The Danish word is "neger" and the best translation to English would be "negro" (Pippi's dad is the "negro king" or "negerkonge"). Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black". Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).
- rags2riches 6y ago
  The Swedish word used in Pippi, until recent editions, was "neger" which has historically been used comparably to the English "negro" but also as a slur more comparable to the English "nigger". The Swedish phrase "n-ordet" ("the n-word") covers both the Swedish words "neger" and "nigger". The former was considered correct at one time. To my knowledge, the latter was always a slur, in Swedish. So there is bound to be some imprecision when discussing this topic across the two languages if one does not want to type out the full words even in their meta use. It is not hard to find examples of meta uses of "neger" in respected sources from just a few years ago. "N-ordet" is a quite recent import, obviously influenced by the American "the n-word".
- sorokod 6y ago
  In Russian "негритянский король" - "king of the negroes"

DanBC 6y ago

I found this, where a parent edits out the word in an audioplay version: https://koneensaatio.fi/en/when-pippi-said-the-n-word/ https://koneensaatio.fi/en/when-pippi-said-the-n-word/ > I mentioned the situation later to a colleague, who said that the same problem had come up in the family, but they had tackled it with a practical solution. Working with sound, this colleague processed the audiobook with editing software to find out whether the N-words could be cut out smoothly. That being done successfully, the children could then listen to the edited version. The problem was solved. I like this part: > “For my daughter, Pippi is a really empowering character, so I can’t just not read the book, because censorship would only make her more interested. So I edit the text while reading it,” he says.

krstffr 6y ago
Yeah, it's a really awesome book and censoring the language as you go isn't that hard really!

sorokod 6y ago

Is that about Pippi's father being a king of the natives?

krstffr 6y ago
Yes mainly. Pippi, Tommy and Annika also goes to his little island where he is king, and the language in that chapter is not the greatest!
ThinkingGuy 6y ago
In the (US English) versions that were read to me as a child, I seem to recall it being rendered "King of the Pygmies."
- SamBam 6y ago
  My Penguin version (1997) has "King of the Cannibals." Not much better -- probably worse, in fact, since they aren't even depicted as cannibals, so the name isn't in any way necessary. But I guess "King of the Islanders" would be boring.

tokai 6y ago

I know it's not that much better, but it's not the actual n-word right?

BurningFrog 6y ago
It's the Swedish "neger", which was the uncontroversial term for black people at the time. Times have changed!
liversage 6y ago
I'm Danish so i only know the Danish version but I think it's the same word as in Swedish. The Danish word is "neger" and the best translation to English would be "negro" (Pippi's dad is the "negro king" or "negerkonge"). Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black". Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).
rags2riches 6y ago
The Swedish word used in Pippi, until recent editions, was "neger" which has historically been used comparably to the English "negro" but also as a slur more comparable to the English "nigger". The Swedish phrase "n-ordet" ("the n-word") covers both the Swedish words "neger" and "nigger". The former was considered correct at one time. To my knowledge, the latter was always a slur, in Swedish. So there is bound to be some imprecision when discussing this topic across the two languages if one does not want to type out the full words even in their meta use. It is not hard to find examples of meta uses of "neger" in respected sources from just a few years ago. "N-ordet" is a quite recent import, obviously influenced by the American "the n-word".
sorokod 6y ago
In Russian "негритянский король" - "king of the negroes"