A Strategy of Cultural Americanization

Year 2011, Issue: 33, 65 - 74, 01.06.2011

Elisabeth Bladh

Abstract

In April 2009 Swedish television broadcast a cultural program focusing on their preference for the local in a more and more globalized world. The first example used in the show to illustrate this trend was the comedy series The Office, which attained worldwide popularity in its original British version but also became popular in a local version. The second feature focused on two Swedish writers, who – to use the reporter’s words – “had encountered problems” as they were about to be introduced on the American book market author’s translation . In order to secure a readership for the American editions the publisher had suggested substantial changes, for example to move the plot from Sweden to California and to omit or rewrite certain parts containing explicit references to sex and therefore considered unsuitable for a teenage audience. The two features discussed the same phenomena but were nevertheless presented quite differently. The localization strategy was not questioned as such when dealing with the various versions of the British sitcom; the American publisher on the other hand was placed in less favorable light.

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