DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN AND BRITISH
VERSIONS OF HARRY POTTER SERIES
Philosopher’s vs. Sorcerer
When Scholastic was publishing Harry Potter and
the Philosopher’s Stone in America, they decided to
rename the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
They claimed that the American and British uses of the
word philosopher were a bit different, so therefore
sorcerer was a more appropriate word. Any true Harry Potter fan, American or British, Australian or Hungarian,
I’m sure will agree with MuggleMix when we say that
decision should not have been made the reasons are:
1) J.K. Rowling said so therefore it must be true.
She says that if she was in a better position, she
would have disagreed at the time.
2) It belittles Americans, making it seem as if they
do not understand what the word “philosopher”
means. Americans are smarter than that.
3) Sorcerer is unspecific. The stone could have
belonged to anybody with magical powers in the
book. But the British name defines who the stone
belongs to and gives the name an entirely
different meaning. Sorcerer is a very different
word to philosopher.
4) The stone is referred to as the “Philosopher’s
Stone” throughout J.K. Rowling’s original version,
never the “Sorcerer’s Stone”, so why should the
most central object of the book be labeled
something completely different in the book title,
even if its just being published in a different
place?
5) How is the word “philosopher” in Britain different
from the word “sorcerer” in America?
6) Philosopher’s Stone is actually a historical object
that people used to search for, while the
Sorcerer’s Stone has no factual background in
real life.
Ah well…
Other terminology
There are some other minor changes that
occurred in case Americans got confused. Some
ones, such as turning “mum” into “mom” and
“trainers” into “sneakers”, J.K. Rowling refused to let
happen. However, she allowed some changes to be
made that, if they were not made, would befuddle the
readers:
UK: Skip – US: Dumpster
UK: Minister for Magic – US: Minister of Magic
[…]
UK: Car park – US: Parking lot
[…]
Disponível em http://w w w .fanpop.com/clubs/harry-potter/articles/4309/title/difference-between-american-british-versions-harry-potter-series. Acesso em nov. 2015.
Com base no texto, analise as afirmativas.
I. A palavra ‘filosofal’ aparece como ‘sorcerer’, na
edição americana do livro “Harry Potter e a
pedra filosofal” (editora Scholastic), e
‘philosopher’, na edição britânica (editora
Bloomsbury), porque a editora americana
achou que a palavra ‘sorcerer’ daria mais
credibilidade à obra.
II. Um dos argumentos do texto contrários à
mudança do título em inglês, de ‘philosopher’
para ‘sorcerer’, é a de que os editores estariam
menosprezando a capacidade de compreensão
dos americanos, já que a alegação foi a de que
o uso da palavra ‘philosopher’ tem pequenas
variações no inglês britânico e no norteamericano.
III. A autora do livro, J.K. Rowling, confirmou que a
mudança ocorreu porque o uso da palavra
‘philosopher’ difere na cultura norte-americana
e na britânica e que, por esse motivo, ela
concordou com a editora Scholastic.
IV. O autor do artigo argumenta que o termo
‘sorcerer’ (em inglês americano) deixa em
aberto quem seria o dono da pedra na estória,
enquanto o termo ‘philosopher’ (em inglês britânico) é mais específico, definindo, deste
modo, quem é o dono da pedra.
V. Houve trocas de algumas outras palavras no
livro, porque são usadas de modo diferente
pelos norte-americanos e pelos ingleses, por
exemplo, cab (Br) mudou para taxi (Am),
sneakers (Br) mudou para tennis shoes (Am),
dust (Br) mudou para garbage (Am), etc.
Com base no texto e nas afirmativas, assinale a
alternativa correta.
NH