Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story when she was off school.

Pippi is red-haired, freckled, unconventional and superhumanly strong – able to lift her horse one-handed. She is playful and unpredictable. She often makes fun of unreasonable adults, especially if they are pompous and condescending. Her anger comes out in extreme cases, such as when a man mistreats his horse. Pippi, like Peter Pan, does not want to grow up. She is the daughter of a buccaneer captain and has adventure stories to tell about that, too. Her four best friends are her horse and monkey, and the neighbours' children, Tommy and Annika.

After being rejected by Bonnier Publishers in 1944, Lindgren's first manuscript was accepted by Rabén and Sjögren. The three Pippi chapter books (''Pippi Longstocking'', ''Pippi Goes on Board'', and ''Pippi in the South Seas'') were published from 1945 to 1948, followed by three short stories and a number of picture book adaptations. They have been translated into 76 languages and made into several films and television series.

Character

Pippi Longstocking is a nine-year-old girl. At the start of the first novel, she moves into Villa Villekulla: the house she shares with her monkey, named Mr. Nilsson, and her horse that is not named in the novels but called ''Lilla Gubben'' (Little Old Man) in the movies. Pippi soon befriends the two children living next door, Tommy and Annika Settergren. With her suitcase of gold coins, Pippi maintains an independent lifestyle without her parents: her mother died soon after her birth; her father, Captain Ephraim Longstocking, goes missing at sea, ultimately turning up as king of a South Sea island. Despite periodic attempts by village authorities to make her conform to cultural expectations of what a child's life should be, Pippi happily lives free from social conventions. According to Eva-Maria Metcalf, Pippi "loves her freckles and her tattered clothes; she makes not the slightest attempt to suppress her wild imagination, or to adopt good manners." Pippi also has a penchant for storytelling, which often takes the form of tall tales.

When discussing Pippi, Astrid Lindgren explained that "Pippi represents my own childish longing for a person who has power but does not abuse it." Although she is the self-proclaimed "strongest girl in the world", Pippi often uses nonviolence to solve conflicts or protect other children from bullying. Pippi has been variously described by literary critics as "warm-hearted", compassionate, kind, clever, generous, playful, and witty to the point of besting adult characters in conversation. Laura Hoffeld wrote that while Pippi's "naturalness entails selfishness, ignorance, and a marked propensity to lie", the character "is simultaneously generous, quick and wise, and true to herself and others."

Development

Biographer Jens Andersen locates a range of influences and inspiration for Pippi not only within educational theories of the 1930s, such as those of A. S. Neill and Bertrand Russell, but also contemporary films and comics that featured "preternaturally strong characters" (e.g. Superman and Tarzan). Literary inspiration for the character can be found in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', E. T. A. Hoffmann's ''The Strange Child'', ''Anne of Green Gables'', and '' Daddy Long Legs'' in addition to myths, fairytales, and legends. Andersen argues that the "misanthropic, emotionally stunted age" of the Second World War, during which Lindgren was developing the character, provided the most influence: the original version of Pippi, according to Andersen, "was a cheerful pacifist whose answer to the brutality and evil of war was goodness, generosity, and good humor."

Pippi originates from bedside stories told for Lindgren's daughter, Karin. In the winter of 1941, Karin had come down with an illness and was confined to her sickbed; inspired by Karin's request to tell her stories about Pippi Longstocking—a name Karin had created on the spot—Lindgren improvised stories about an "anything-but-pious" girl with "boundless energy." As a child, Karin related more to Annika and Tommy, rather than Pippi, who she felt was very different from her personality. Pippi became a staple within the household, with Karin's friends and cousins also enjoying her adventures. In April 1944, while recovering from a twisted ankle, Lindgren wrote her stories about Pippi in shorthand, a method she used throughout her writing career; a copy of the clean manuscript was turned into a homemade book for Karin and given to her on May 21, while another was posted to publisher Bonnier Förlag, where it was rejected in September on the grounds of being "too advanced."

After her critical success with her debut children's novel ''The Confidences of Britt-Mari'' (1944), Lindgren sent the manuscript for ''Pippi Longstocking'' to her editor at Rabén and Sjögren, the children's librarian and critic Elsa Olenius, in May 1945. Olenius advised her to revise some of the "graphic" elements, such as a full chamber pot being used as a fire extinguisher, and then to enter it into the upcoming competition at Rabén and Sjögren, which was for books targeted at children between the ages of six and ten. Critic Ulla Lundqvist estimates that a third of the manuscript was altered, with some changes made to improve its prose and readability, and others done to the character of Pippi, who according to Lundqvist "acquire a new modesty and tenderness, and also a slight touch of melancholy," as well as "less intricate" dialogue. ''Pippi Longstocking'' placed first and was subsequently published in November 1945 with illustrations by Ingrid Vang Nyman. Two more books followed: '' Pippi Goes on Board'' (1946) and '' Pippi in the South Seas'' (1948). Three picture books were also produced: ''Pippi's After Christmas Party'' (1950), ''Pippi on the Run'' (1971), and ''Pippi Longstocking in the Park'' (2001).

Name

Pippi in the original Swedish language books says her full name is ''Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump''. Although her surname ''Långstrump'' – literally ''long stocking'' – translates easily into other languages, her personal names include invented words that cannot translate directly, and a patronymic (''Efraimsdotter'') which is unfamiliar to many cultures. English language books and films about Pippi have given her name in the following forms:
*''Pippilotta Rollgardinia Victualia Peppermint Longstocking''
*''Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim's Daughter Longstocking''
*''Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraimsdotter Longstocking''
*''Pippilotta Provisionia Gaberdina Dandeliona Ephraimsdaughter Longstocking''

In 2005, UNESCO published lists of the most widely translated books. In regard to children's literature, ''Pippi Longstocking'' was listed as the fifth most widely translated work with versions in 70 different languages. As of 2017, it was revealed that Lindgren's works had been translated into 100 languages. Here are the character's names in some languages other than English.

*In Afrikaans
*In Albanian
*In Arabic
*In Armenian
*In Azerbaijani
*In Basque
*In Belarusian
*In Bulgarian
*In Breton
*In Catalan
*In Chinese
*In Czech
*In Danish
*In Dutch
*In Esperanto
*In Estonian
*In Faroese
*In Filipino
*In Finnish
*In French (literally "Fifi Strand of Steel")
*In Galician
*In Georgian or
*In German
*In Greek (literally "Pippi the freckle-nosed girl")
*In Hebrew or or the phonetic matching בילבי לא-כלום ''bílbi ló khlum'', literally "Bilby Nothing" in old translations
*In Hungarian
*In Icelandic
*In Indonesian
*In Irish
*In Italian
*In Japanese
*In Karelian
*In Khmer
*In Korean
*In Kurdish
*In Latvian
*In Lithuanian
*In Macedonian
*In Mongolian
*In Norwegian
*In Persian
*In Polish or
*In Portuguese (Brazil), (Portugal)
*In Romanian (Romania), (Moldova)
*In Russian or
*In Scottish Gaelic
*In Scots
*In Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Bosnian /
*In Slovak
*In Slovene
*In Spanish (Spain), or (Latin America)
*In si, දිගමේස්දානලාගේ පිප්පි
*In Thai
*In Turkish
*In Ukrainian
*In Urdu

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