Chapter 10
Identities and impoliteness in translated Harry Potter novels
This paper applies Culpeper’s (2011) impoliteness strategies to children’s novels, arguing that impoliteness is used in children’s texts to construct, attack and consolidate character identity. In an analysis of the Harry Potter series it shows how the use of impolite token structures changes in the course of a series and helps express a change in identity as speakers gain maturity. Using Toury’s (1980) Descriptive Translation Studies framework, the paper shows that impolite utterances are commonly translated in a more simplified manner, which influences character construction, especially for antagonistic characters, whose hostile identity is tempered in translation.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 2.1Identity and face
- 2.2Identity in narrative texts for children
- 2.3Identity in the school story
- 2.4Children’s literature in translation
- 3.Method
- 3.1Impoliteness in the original
- 3.2Impoliteness in the German translation
- 4.Results and discussion
- 4.1Impoliteness in the original
- 4.2Impoliteness in the German translation
- 5.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
References
Axia, Giovanna, and Maria Rosa Baroni
1989 “
Linguistic Politeness at Different Age Levels.”
Child Development 56: 918–927.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca
2003 “
Face and Politeness: New (Insights) and Old (Concepts).”
Journal of Pragmatics 35: 1453–1469.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bousfield, Derek
2008 “
Impoliteness in the Struggle for Power.”
In Impoliteness in Language, ed. by
Derek Bousfield, and
Miriam A. Locher, 127–153. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bousfield, Derek, and Miriam A. Locher
2008 “
Introduction: Impoliteness and Power in Language.”
In Impoliteness in Language, ed. by
Derek Bousfield, and
Miriam A. Locher, 1–13. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson
1987 [1978] Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brown, Roger, and Albert Gilman
1989 “
Politeness Theory and Shakespeare’s Four Major Tragedies.”
Language in Society 18: 159–212.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bucholts, Mary, and Kira Hall
2010.“
Locating Identity in Language.”
In Language and Identities, ed. by
Carmen Llamas, and
Dominic Watt, 18–28. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Culpeper, Jonathan
2011 Impoliteness. Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Culpeper, Jonathan
1998 “
(Im)politeness in Dramatic Dialogue.”
In Exploring the Language of Drama. From Text to Context, ed. by
Jonathan Culpeper,
Mick Short, and
Peter Verdonk, 83–95. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eccleshare, Julia
2002 A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels. London: Continuum.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eckert, Penelope, and Sally McConnell-Ginet
1992 “
Think Practically and Look Locally: Language and Gender as Community-based Practice.”
Annual Review of Anthropology 21: 461–90.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eelen, Gino
2001 A Critique of Politeness Theories. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Even-Zohar, Itamar
1978 “
The Position of Translated Literature within the Literary Polysystem.”
In Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies, ed. by
James S. Holmes,
José Lambert, and
Raymond van den Broeck. 117–127. Leuven: Acco.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goffman, Erving
1967 Interactional Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
House, Juliane
2006 “
Communicative Styles in English and German.”
European Journal of English Studies 10: 249–267.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
House, Juliane
2005 “
Politeness in Germany: Politeness in Germany?”
In Politeness in Europe, ed. by
Leo Hickey, 13–28. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Joseph, John E.
2010 “
Identity.”
In Language and Identities, ed. by
Carmen Llamas, and
Dominic Watt, 9–17. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Karg, Ines, and Iris Mende
2010 Kulturphänomen Harry Potter. Göttingen: V&R Unipress.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kienpointner, Manfred
2008 “
Impoliteness and Emotional Arguments.”
Journal of Politeness Research 4: 243–265.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kleinke, Sonja, and Birte Bös
Klingberg, Göte
1986 Children’s Fiction in the Hands of the Translators. Lund: CWK Gleerup.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Knuth, Rebecca
2012 Children’s Literature and British Identity. Imagining a People and a Nation. Lanham/ Toronto/ Plymouth: The Scarecrow Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kümmerling-Meibauer, Bettina
1999 Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Ein Internationales Lexikon (Vol 1, A–K). Stuttgart: Metsler.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kullmann, Thomas
2008 Englische Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Eine Einführung. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lathey, Gillian
2005 “
The Travels of Harry: International Marketing and the Translation of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.”
The Lion & the Unicorn 29: 141–151.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lathey, Gillian
2009 “
Children’s Literature.”
In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, ed. by
Mona Baker, and
Gabriela Saldanha, 31–34. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Leech, Geoffrey N.
2005 “
Is there an East-West Divide in Politeness?”
Journal of Foreign Languages 6: 1–30.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mendoza-Denton, Norma
2003 “
Language and Identity.”
In The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, ed. by
J. K. Chambers, and
Natalie Schilling. 475–500. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Metcalf, Eva-Maria
2003 “
Exploring Cultural Difference through Translating Children’s Literature.”
Translators’ Journal 48: 322–327.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Oittinen, Riitta
1993 I Am Me – I Am Other: On the Dialogics of Translating for Children. Tampere: University of Tampere.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
O’Sullivan, Emer
2000 Kinderliterarische Komparatistik. Heidelberg: Winter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
O’Sullivan, Emer
2013 “
Children’s Literature and Translation Studies.”
In The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies, ed. by
Carmen Millán, and
Francesca Bartrina, 451–463. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rowling, Joanne K.
1997 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rowling, Joanne K.
1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rowling, Joanne K.
2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rudanko, Juhani
2006 “
Aggravated Impoliteness and Two Types of Speaker Intention in an Episode in Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
.”
Journal of Pragmatics 38: 829–841.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stewart, Miranda
2005 “
Politeness in Britain: ‘it’s only a suggestion…’”
In Politeness in Europe, ed. by
Leo Hickey, 116–129. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Toury, Gideon
1980 In Search of a Theory of Translation. Tel-Aviv: The Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Watts, Richard J.
2003 Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Watts, Richard J.
1989 “
Relevance and Relational Work: Linguistic Politeness as Politic Behaviour.”
Multilingua 8: 131–166.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yos, Gabriele
1996 “
Reden sie wie du und ich? Gesprächsstilistische Untersuchungen an Epischen Texten für Junge Leser.”
In Beiträge zur Text- und Stilanalyse, ed. by
Angelika Feine, and
Hans-Joachim Siebert, 181–192. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.