Blog / 2018 / The Mistranslation of the Little Prince
February 15, 2018
The Little Prince is one of the most translated books, and I can only hope that most of the translations do a better job than the English one.
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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
“Apprivoisé.” This French word will forever be linked for me with the story of The Little Prince, as I imagine it is for many French-speakers because the first time you see this word is when you’re reading The Little Prince. And the adults in your life who are reading this book with you make a really big deal of translating or explaining for you because—well it’s the first time you’re seeing it. But also because the meaning of “apprivoisé” is central to the meaning of the entire book.
You see the word in the encounter between the fox and the Prince. And the fox tells the Prince: “I can’t play with you. I am not apprivoisé.” So in English it is “I am not tamed.” And that translation is horrible and even, I would say, offensive.
So the two words “tamed” and “apprivoisé” do share a little bit of meaning. They both imply an animal moving from a more wild state to a less wild state. But that is where the similarities end. Everything else about the words—like all the nuances—completely different.
“Apprivoisé” means to cause an animal or a person to be less fearful, more social. And tamed implies an animal—usually a human being—dominating another animal—sometimes another human being. So there’s this whole subjugation aspect to “tamed" that nowhere does it appear in “apprivoisé.” And that means that generations of English-speakers have been reading The Little Prince and completely misunderstanding a central point of the book. They’ve been, I guess, believing that this book is trying to tell you that, for there to be love, there must be some kind of submission.
I painted the fox from The Little Prince because 2018 is the year of the dog, and every year I paint the animal of the Chinese zodiac. And then, based on that painting, I choose a theme for my year. So in 2018, I don’t want to be tamed or for anyone to think that taming is okay. “Apprivoisé” yes, “tamed” no.
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