3 ms·

Some interesting bit of trivia. When my partner and I had our first child we talked about children's books (and TV shows) that were formative for us when childr

Some interesting bit of trivia. When my partner and I had our first child we talked about children's books (and TV shows) that were formative for us when children. I was completely shocked that she had never heard of pippi (I'm German she is French), because to me Pippi is probably one of the most famous children's characters of all times in many languages. She then did some research why pippi wasn't know in France, turns out they thought it was too subversive and anti-authoritarian so only brought out a very censored translation in French which cut out pretty much all Pippis main character traits and unsurprisingly flopped. It was only in the mid-90s that they published a new faithful translation (by that time my partner had long outgrown children's books).

ArnoVW 6y ago
Well there are bits where pipi mixes up a whole bunch of medication to make a nice drink. She resists the authority of the state. Today this is (too?) popular, but in centrally led France of the 50's... For me I suppose it's like anything with parenting: if you're there to contextualise, I'm much more open to expose my kids.
- Jolter 6y ago
  She never drinks that mixture though, she pours it down a drain.
  - ArnoVW 6y ago
    Ah? In the Dutch version she drinks it: "Then she drank several big gulps. Anika, who knew that some bottles had written on them "External", was getting anxious. 'But Pippi' she said, 'how do you know that there is nothing toxic?' 'Oh I'll find out tomorrow', Pippi said cheerfully. 'If I'm not dead by then, it's not toxic and any small child can drink it'." Which version are you talking about? The French?
  - bzbarsky 6y ago
    She definitely drinks it in the Russian translations I have read....
- watwut 6y ago
  Pippi is read by bigger kids, it is book for age when you read by yourself rather then being read by parent. So, parent is not there to contextualize every scene.
eru 6y ago
'Emil i Lönneberga' (Michel aus Lönneberga) is another great one. Try telling today's parents to let their five year old carve wooden figures. Unsupervised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_i_L%C3%B6nneberga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_i_L%C3%B6nneberga > With most pranks, Emil escapes his father's wrath by running away and locking himself into a tool shed. Since the door can also be locked from the outside, his father locks him in there for a while as punishment. Emil is usually embarrassed by what he has done, but this is not a severe punishment for Emil, who likes sitting in the shed and takes to carving a wooden figure during each of his stays. He eventually accumulates 369 of them, except for the one that his mother buries because she claims it looks too much like the rural dean. Emil is clever and creative and tends to think in unconventional ways that adults are liable to misunderstand.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  IIRC these days electric chisels are safer than knives, as flesh is generally too mushy to trigger the reciprocation.
  - eru 6y ago
    Thanks, I'll keep than in mind for the kids! Though my comment wasn't really meant to be about the most pragmatic way for people to work with wood. But more about what kind of risks parents are willing to run in return for their off-springs autonomy.
abecedarius 6y ago
I sampled one of the Moomin books in French and was struck by how bad that translation seemed, too. I don't know them in the original (it's not a language I speak), but I was able to compare the English version there in the store, and the prose just seemed much livelier in English. (The French Harry Potter is comparable to the English, for a control for this experiment.) That wasn't actual censorship, but unless it's an unlucky sample or a quirk of my taste then the French were unfortunate with both authors.
- emj 6y ago
  There seems to be at least two translations of Moomin into french http://www.moomintrove.com/country-france.htm http://www.moomintrove.com/country-france.htm

ArnoVW 6y ago

Well there are bits where pipi mixes up a whole bunch of medication to make a nice drink. She resists the authority of the state. Today this is (too?) popular, but in centrally led France of the 50's... For me I suppose it's like anything with parenting: if you're there to contextualise, I'm much more open to expose my kids.

Jolter 6y ago
She never drinks that mixture though, she pours it down a drain.
- ArnoVW 6y ago
  Ah? In the Dutch version she drinks it: "Then she drank several big gulps. Anika, who knew that some bottles had written on them "External", was getting anxious. 'But Pippi' she said, 'how do you know that there is nothing toxic?' 'Oh I'll find out tomorrow', Pippi said cheerfully. 'If I'm not dead by then, it's not toxic and any small child can drink it'." Which version are you talking about? The French?
- bzbarsky 6y ago
  She definitely drinks it in the Russian translations I have read....
watwut 6y ago
Pippi is read by bigger kids, it is book for age when you read by yourself rather then being read by parent. So, parent is not there to contextualize every scene.

eru 6y ago

'Emil i Lönneberga' (Michel aus Lönneberga) is another great one. Try telling today's parents to let their five year old carve wooden figures. Unsupervised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_i_L%C3%B6nneberga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_i_L%C3%B6nneberga > With most pranks, Emil escapes his father's wrath by running away and locking himself into a tool shed. Since the door can also be locked from the outside, his father locks him in there for a while as punishment. Emil is usually embarrassed by what he has done, but this is not a severe punishment for Emil, who likes sitting in the shed and takes to carving a wooden figure during each of his stays. He eventually accumulates 369 of them, except for the one that his mother buries because she claims it looks too much like the rural dean. Emil is clever and creative and tends to think in unconventional ways that adults are liable to misunderstand.

082349872349872 6y ago
IIRC these days electric chisels are safer than knives, as flesh is generally too mushy to trigger the reciprocation.
- eru 6y ago
  Thanks, I'll keep than in mind for the kids! Though my comment wasn't really meant to be about the most pragmatic way for people to work with wood. But more about what kind of risks parents are willing to run in return for their off-springs autonomy.

abecedarius 6y ago

I sampled one of the Moomin books in French and was struck by how bad that translation seemed, too. I don't know them in the original (it's not a language I speak), but I was able to compare the English version there in the store, and the prose just seemed much livelier in English. (The French Harry Potter is comparable to the English, for a control for this experiment.) That wasn't actual censorship, but unless it's an unlucky sample or a quirk of my taste then the French were unfortunate with both authors.

emj 6y ago
There seems to be at least two translations of Moomin into french http://www.moomintrove.com/country-france.htm http://www.moomintrove.com/country-france.htm