It is also absolutley filled with the n-word (at least my Swedish edition from the 90's), which always makes for an interesting challenge having to censor and come up with alternative words as you go.
> I mentioned the situation later to a colleague, who said that the same problem had come up in the family, but they had tackled it with a practical solution. Working with sound, this colleague processed the audiobook with editing software to find out whether the N-words could be cut out smoothly. That being done successfully, the children could then listen to the edited version. The problem was solved.
I like this part:
> “For my daughter, Pippi is a really empowering character, so I can’t just not read the book, because censorship would only make her more interested. So I edit the text while reading it,” he says.
I'm Danish so i only know the Danish version but I think it's the same word as in Swedish. The Danish word is "neger" and the best translation to English would be "negro" (Pippi's dad is the "negro king" or "negerkonge").
Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black".
Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).
My Penguin version (1997) has "King of the Cannibals." Not much better -- probably worse, in fact, since they aren't even depicted as cannibals, so the name isn't in any way necessary.
But I guess "King of the Islanders" would be boring.
> I mentioned the situation later to a colleague, who said that the same problem had come up in the family, but they had tackled it with a practical solution. Working with sound, this colleague processed the audiobook with editing software to find out whether the N-words could be cut out smoothly. That being done successfully, the children could then listen to the edited version. The problem was solved.
I like this part:
> “For my daughter, Pippi is a really empowering character, so I can’t just not read the book, because censorship would only make her more interested. So I edit the text while reading it,” he says.