Global infatuation : Explorations in transnational publishing and texts : the case of Harlequin Enterprises and Sweden

Abstract: This dissertation deals with the Canadian category publisher Harlequin Enterprises.Operating in a hundred markets and publishing in twenty-four languages around the world,Harlequin Enterprises exemplifies the increasingly transnational character of publishing andthe media. This book takes the Stockholm-based Scandinavian subsidiary Förlaget Harlequinas a case-study to analyze the complexities involved in the transposition of Harlequinromances from one cultural context into another. Using a combination of theoretical andempirical approaches it is argued that the local process of translation and editing - herereferred to as transediting - has a fundamental impact on how the global book becomes local.The study is divided into six chapters, with an Introduction and Conclusion. TheIntroduction outlines the theoretical and methodological background. The first chapteruses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of field to examine the North American romance phe-nomenon, and is followed by a chapter entirely dedicated to Harlequin Enterprises inToronto. Chapter Three turns to Sweden and the category book before Harlequin's arrivalon the Scandinavian book market in 1979. Chapter Four draws on six "participatoryobservations" made at the weekly editorial meetings at the Stockholm office to discuss thework of the editors. Chapter Five analyzes the practice of transediting, exploring localchoices and deliberations made by editors and translators in Sweden. Chapter Six is entirelydevoted to a reading of fifty-six Harlequin romances published in Sweden between 1980-1992. Finally, the Conclusion attempts to draw together and develop the implications ofsome of the more important points argued in previous chapters.