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The books have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, which makes it the highest-selling book series ever. The large print editions are only available in books 1 and 2 as far as I'm aware and are published by Feryane in 2005. Slytherin became Serpentard, while Hufflepuff was changed to Poufsouffle (which sounds so adorably like a Hufflepuff). So it is that, in the ensuing period of relative calm, the wizardry of Harry Potter translators has become the subject of study, delight, confusion and criticism. In fact, the title itself is quite different since Harry Potter À L’école Des Sorciers translates to Harry Potter at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Be sorted, earn house points, take classes with our fine Hogwarts staff, debate which actor portrayed Dumbledore the best, and finally get some closure for your Post-Potter Depression. In French the verb to choose is ‘choisir’ the word for a choice is ‘un choix’, so the translator combined the word hat ‘chapeau’ and choice ‘choix’ to form the ‘choosing hat’, which it’s very poetic in French. Indeed, the effort and strategies of the French translator, Jean-François Ménard, have been the object of study, admiration and criticism. There are, of course, many other cool and interesting translations in the French translation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – from the translation of Dudley Dursley’s nickname Dudleykins to Dudlinouchet in French or the Hogwarts Houses, my favorite of which is Poufsouffle. This art was first found on audio books before finding its way onto the covers of a few different translations - the French being among them.Sometime around 2011, Gallimard once again came out with this lovely edition, again in small softcover format. For example, though the Dursleys are the Durselys and they do live in Privet Drive, the wizarding school Harry attends is Poudlard (Poux-de-lard, literally: bacon lice) rather than Hogwarts.
In the world of wizards, they aren’t paying for their wands and brooms in pounds or euros, but in bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and golden Galleons, or Noises de bronze, Mornilles d’argent, and Gallions d’or. Welcome to r/HarryPotter, the place where fans from around the world can meet and discuss everything in the Harry Potter universe! He got the idea for the name "Ombrage" for "Umbridge" by seeing a typo (link in French) in a Newsweek article, where the name of the professor was misspelled as "Umbradge. Mr et Mrs Dursley, qui habitaient au 4, Privet Drive, avaient toujours affirmé avec la plus grande fierté qu’ils étaient parfaitement normaux, merci pour eux. I really enjoyed reading Harry Potter in French, so maybe I’ll take on the Spanish or Italian version next!
What to do with the latiny riddle-language of Rowling’s spells, which allows English-speaking readers to work out that wingardium leviosa implies 'wings' and 'levitation', or that the cruciatus curse will bring excruciating pain? Because of the genius of the translator, the pun with Riddle’s last name was not lost: Jedusor sounds like “jeu de sort,” meaning a game of chances.
One article believes the translator feared that to give him an accent in the French version would give the character a vulgar side or rural connotation which the English don’t have (I always assumed Hagrid was Scottish? Source] France is a country in Western Europe, though it also has territories in other parts of the world.
I love this, I’ve had a french exchange over and she’s made about Harry Potter, so we’ve had fun discussing the differences. They changed it for the same reason as they changed it from the original “philosoper’s stone” to “sorcerer’s stone” in America; They were scared that kids would be confused by the mention of philosophy and would therefore not read them, while sorcery might sound more apealing to children! She also has moments later which echo major events earlier, gifting a feeling of authenticity to Harry’s fantastical world.
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