Harry Potter and the Linguistic, Cultural Ethnocentrism: Some Reflections on the Americanization of J.K. Rowling’s books

Abstract

This article analyses the intralingual translation carried out on the Harry Potter book series for their publication in the US, as well as the repercussions that this translation had on these books. Even though the analysis presented here is limited to a translation within a single language, the conclusions obtained may also be applied to the field of the interlingual translation of literary texts. In this sense, this article seeks to show how either domestication alone or its combination with foreignization distorts the meaning and aesthetics of a literary work. Furthermore, this article discusses the consequences of domestication and foreignization for the relation between dominant and dominated cultures, as well as the ethical dilemma they pose.