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Den svenska schlageröversättningens metoder

Abstract

Light or easily made target texts. The methods of Swedish schlager translation
Schlager was used as a term for songs on the Swedish popular music market from the 1920s and on. Coincidentally, song translation practices developed that varied rather seamlessly between liberty and fidelity. Nevertheless, based on an extensive corpus of Swedish target song lyrics, released 1916–2011, I identify and name six roughly distinguishable text methods: near-enough translation, perspective-shift translation, hook transposition, single-phrase spinoff, phonetic calque, and all-new target song lyrics. Examining the chronological distribution of the variation, most exploration of the experimental middle ground was found in the 1960s and 1970s. One decisive factor may be increased tailoring of lyrics for specific performers or venues. From the 1980s and on, changing circumstances seem to have made imported music released with Swedish lyrics less prevalent on the market, but widely variable song translation methods continue to be practiced in later decades too.