A Tale of 'Two' Smillas

by Kirsten Malmkjær

Kirsten Malmkjær, Centre for Research in Translation, Middlesex University

Peter Høeg (UK version)

When Peter Høeg published Frøken Smilla’s fornemmelse for sne in Copenhagen in 1992, he set in motion a multiple, remarkable process. First, his book became a best seller, not only in Denmark, but also abroad, including in Britain. This is unusual; relatively few Danish authors make it onto the shelves of UK book shops, let alone onto the British bestseller lists. Secondly, two translations of the book exist, both published in 1993, one in the USA and one in the UK, both copyrighted by the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, though the UK version copyright is shared with the British publisher, The Harvill Press.

Peter Høeg (US version)

This in itself is unremarkable: translations, along with other kinds of text in British or American English are often adjusted to suit the spelling and vocabulary conventions of the other variety. Click on the Maps link to see how the maps that are presumably intended to help us find our way around Høeg’s bookscape conform to these conventions, and what other differences there are between the maps in the original Danish edition and in the US and UK translations.

PETER HØEG: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. First published in 1992 by Munksgaard/Rosinante, Copenhagen. First published in Great Britain in 1993 by Harvill. Copyright © Peter Hoeg and Munksgaard/Rosinante, Copenhagen, 1992. English translation copyright © Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc. And The Harvill Press, 1993. Maps by Reginald Pigott. Cover photograph by Richard Haughton. Reproduced by permission of The Harvill Press.

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