Books and plays for children are heavily politicised and ‘religionised’ in Pakistan, resulting in rise in extremist trends in the society. Odds are stacked against girls who have multiple glass ceilings to break and stand up. Pippi Longstocking is a character that can fill this gap if presented properly. Before we look at its presentation in Pakistan, we may understand what it is. Originally, it is Pippi Långstrump, a Swedish character. Astrid Lindgren wrote books for children but her most famous character Pippi Långstrump was published in 1945. Långstrump is a strong girl, rebelling against the system of gender discrimination.

Her father has left her with gold and wealth. She rides a horse, wears pigtails, and plays with her monkey. She is powerful enough to make light work of throwing bad people away. She is generous with her wealth and helps people in need. Above all, she does not suffer from gender idiosyncrasies. “Do you suffer from freckles?” reads a sign in a shop. She goes into the shop and tells the shopkeeper that she does not suffer from freckles; rather, she likes them.

These are unconventional things that the small girl does to express herself, free of physical and social barriers that hinder women’s path. The story gives hope to women that they can live with dignity without any knight in a shining armour. Moral of the story upset many critics who picked faults with it being so surreal. Others pointed out that it was leaving a bad impact on children as Pippi lacked manners to talk and eat.

But this criticism failed to gain much attention as Sweden valued women empowerment more than anything else. Last year in September when the world celebrated International Day of Democracy, Sweden marked one hundred years of women’s enfranchisement. At the start, about 50 percent of Swedish women exercised their right to vote and now it is about 90 percent.

Due to participation of women in all affairs of the state, Sweden retains its top position on the list of good countries to live in.

In its gender policy, Sweden clearly mentions that “gender equality is a matter of human rights, of democracy and justice.” On the other hand, Pakistan stands at number 110 on Good Country Index. This comparison is useful when we see that the story of Pippi Longstocking is presented to audience in Pakistan. 

The Swedish embassy in Pakistan mentioned the country’s struggle against inequalities among other things that made it the world leader.

In its gender policy, Sweden clearly mentions that “gender equality is a matter of human rights, of democracy and justice.”

On the other hand, Pakistan stands at number 110 on Good Country Index. This comparison is useful when we see that the story of Pippi Longstocking is presented to audience in Pakistan.

Last year, some known TV faces were hired who just read out the story in Urdu. It was nothing Pippi-like. She was a character who worked out new ways and fought against established social trends. Before engaging these actors, it should have been seen that they have been hogging Pakistani TV screens for long. The tactics to set up dynasties in our media industry must have been studied to understand that the audience at large have been held captive to these dynasties. Since they have no choice, the gratification they get from performance of these actors is false.

Their engagement in telling Pippi’s story to Pakistani audience serves only to poor conveyance of the moral of this story to a market of over 200 million people. The story was also showcased at a stall in Lahore Literary Festival. Nordic International School Lahore made some meaningful contribution in showcasing of this story in Lahore.

Different countries like Japan and Israel have modified translation of this story according to their cultures which is the right way to do translation. But in Pakistan, it seems that the official word-for-word approach has been adopted for its translation.

Unfortunately, media research has been largely ‘religionised’ here. Those that go off this wrong track put a price on their work and mislead audience in the debate on fake and true news.

But Sweden has a strong base for research on mediatisation process and the content that is suitable for children. This character is Swedish and it was created by a mother who strove to give courage to her ailing daughter by narrating tales of courage. The Swedish media scholars need to put in some research work before adopting a ready-made approach to present Pippi ki Kahani to a Pakistani audience.

Not only gender dynamics of Pakistani society, but its media power must also be taken into consideration before launching such an adventure as Urdu translation of Pippi Longstocking.

The writer teaches development support communication at   International Islamic University Islamabad. Twitter:  @HassanShehzadZ   Email:  Hassan.shehzad@iiui.edu.pk