Children's Literature and the Nobel Prize: The Case of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Juvenile Classic in Swedish Translations

This article explores the Swedish translation and publishing trajectory of the Polish classic juvenile novel W pustyni i w puszczy [In desert and wilderness] by Poland's first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, Henryk Sienkiewicz. It draws on the sociology of literature informed by perspectives of Pierre Bourdieu, Pascale Casanova, and James F. English. The analysis reveals the impact the Nobel Prize had on the transfer of prestige, becoming a significant factor in subsequent Swedish editions of Sienkiewicz's novel, as it influenced the agents involved in the publishing process.