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Title: Knickerbockers, nightshirts, robes, and a hat with a stuffed vulture on top: Clothing and its translations in the Harry Potter series
Vol. 14(1), 2026, pp. 8-20
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46687/HYBR2099
Author: Irina Stoyanova-Georgieva
About the author: Irina Stoyanova-Georgieva, PhD is a lecturer in the English Studies Department of Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, Bulgaria. She has done a translation traineeship at the European Parliament and has a PhD thesis on the use of intensifiers in letters to the editor in British and Bulgarian newspapers and magazines. Her main interests are in the field of translation studies and translation technologies.
E-mail: i.stoyanova-georgieva@shu.bg
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4065-4917
Link: http://silc.fhn-shu.com/issues/2026-1/SILC_2026_Vol_14_Issue_1_008-020_13.pdf
Citation (APA): Stoyanova-Georgieva, I. (2026). Knickerbockers, nightshirts, robes, and a hat with a stuffed vulture on top: Clothing and its translations in the Harry Potter series. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT, 14(1), 8-20. https://doi.org/10.46687/HYBR2099
Abstract: The current study discusses the translation procedures applied to clothing, appearance, adornments, and decorations in the seven Harry Potter books in Bulgarian. Making use of Aixelá’s (1996) methodology, the study aims not only to map and discuss the dominant translation procedures for the aforementioned categories, but to note any differences in the renditions of magical and real-world items. The results prove that the most common translation procedures for non-magical items of clothing are substitution ones like limited universalisation and naturalisation. Magical attire, however, is predominantly transmitted by conservation procedures such as linguistic (non-cultural) translation and extratextual gloss. This shows that the consistent translators’ choices aimed to bring real-world clothing, appearance, and adornments closer to the reader and to retain the peculiarities and eccentricity of the wizarding items.
Keywords: culture-specific item (CSI), clothes and appearance, translation procedures, Harry Potter, children’s literature
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