This paper addresses a phenomenon of the popularity of Swedish women writers in the 19th century in Sweden as well as in other European countries. I have focused on Polish translations of Marie Sophie Schwartz, whose novels became extremely popular in Poland in the 1860’s and 1870’s, judging from the number of books translated in comparison to other Swedish bestselling writers, e.g. Fredrika Bremer and Emilie Flygare Carlén. I have begun with discussing translation strategies for titles as a tool for advertising literature. The titles employed appealed to readers’ expectations for popular literature by stressing rather melodramatic elements of the plot than its social dimension, especially in novels published as series in papers. On the other hand, subsequent book editions came out with titles more true to the original ones, a fact which proves a growing social awareness of Polish society. One of the most important issues for Schwartz was emancipation, specifically the women’s right to education, employment and economic autonomy. Even though the author was rather moderate in her pleading for gender equality, while stressing a distinct “nature” of women and the need of their commitment to family, Polish translations modified gender related aspects and rendered progressive women characters as more conservative and conforming to culturally established behaviour patterns. This might be due to the specific political situation of the 19th century Poland which, in the aftermath of the partitions between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and Habsburg Austria, was no longer an independent country and struggled for the preservation of the national culture. The values promoted in the Schwartz’s novels, namely the importance of work and duty, became a vital strategy for the Polish nation after the defeat of the national uprising in 1863, when the romantic fight for freedom proved fruitless. That is why social conflicts became less frequent in literature, whose focus shifted towards education.

Detta paper tar upp fenomenet av den svenska kvinnolitteraturens utgivningsboom på 1800-talet som inte bara gällde den svenska bokmarknaden utan även hade en stor internationell spridning. Jag ska ta upp polska översättningar av periodens mest internationellt kända författarinnor, bl.a. Fredrika Bremer, Marie Sophie Schwartz och Emilie Flygare-Carlén, samt diskutera möjliga orsaker till deras framgångar utomlands. Huvudfrågan är om deras popularitet går tillbaka på det specifikt svenska/nordiska i skildringen eller på romangenrens växande popularitet, både i dess romantisk-melodramatiska och realistiska tappning. Urvalet av periodens svenska romaner i polsk översättning gör tesen om underhållning som huvudmålet berättigad. Vidare konfronteras översättningarna med originalen med fokus på översättarstrategier som framhäver, misstolkar resp. förbigår det kulturspecifika. Ytterligare en aspekt kommer att diskuteras, nämligen om det kvinnliga perspektivet tillför något nytt för den svenska kulturens förståelse, med andra ord i vad mån skildringarna resp. översättningarna i fråga är genuspräglade.