Harry Potter in Translation

Last fall I rode my bike up the Rhine River from Cologne into Switzerland. It was a GREAT trip. See links. I used Warmshowers as an option for where to stay and trip planning. In the famous town of Strasbourg in northeastern France I was lucky in finding a host. Florian answered yes and we arranged where and when to meet up. I cycled to his apartment building outside the historic city center and waited beside my bike. Within minutes Florian showed up after his evening commute.

Later—after a warm shower—we sat around a table and ate a wonderful lentil salad and a baguette because . . . I was in France! I saw on a bookcase over his shoulder a whole shelf of Harry Potter books.

He was of that generation, same as my daughter who just turned 35, who grew up reading Harry Potter. Their whole childhood was comprised of Harry Potter. Every year there was a monumental publication, the subsequent hoopla, the launch event, the completive reading, marathon, then the waiting for the next book. We lived every summer/fall/winter waiting. Anticipating, longing for the next Harry P. Until then, there were Harry Potter birthday parties, movies, theme parks, etc. But, also, the rereading, the deep, slow dive into the story, characters; she began to write fan fiction.

Florian, I said, I see you have Harry Potter books. Yes, he replied, I reread them. I nodded, Then he added: I read them in translation.

He knew about 7 different languages. I may be exaggerating, but from what I got was that—
His father was Italian, thus he could read and speak that language
His mother is French, he grew up mostly reading and speaking that
Also, being so close to Germany, he could read and speak German
I believe he was also reading Harry Potter in Latin, a dead language, for fun

This was so interesting. There must’ve been so many nuances he was able to discover while going back and forth between translations. Oh, and he could also read the series in the original English.

I know, because I’m the mother of a Harry Potter fan and millennial that J. K. Rowling, the series author, has gone all Elon Musk—rich and dismissive, vilified for her opinions and views, some of which are highly homophobic. Rowling, more than anyone, should be aware of how much impact words have upon people.

Some of the shine has worn off. Yet, the characters, thrilling plot was still being traversed by reading Harry Potter in translation. In such a crazy, chaotic political environment rereading can feel like a safe place—we already know what’s going to happen, Harry wins at the end of the day. Right prevails. For some of the Harry Potter generation there is a certain nostalgia for childhood, those days and nights spent reading, beginning to end, over and over again.