This study examines the role and implications of mimicry (Bhabha, 1994) and colonial trans-lation (Young, 2003) in Swedish adoption narratives. Through a deconstructive narrative analysis of three Swedish adoption texts: Längtansbarnen: Adoptivförädrar berättar [The Longed for/Longing Children: Adoptive parents tell their story] (Weigl, 1997), Adoption: Banden som gör oss till familj [Adoption: the ties that make us a family] (Juusela, 2010), and Gul Utanpå [Yellow on the Outside] (Lundberg, 2013); the study explores how mimicry manifests itself in adoption narratives, the process of the translation of the adoptee into a mimic Swede, and how the transnational/-racial adoptee as a mimic poses a threat, as mimicry turns to menace.The study finds that mimicry emerges as a process, where the adoptee is first desired as abody of difference that can become an almost the same Swede, a mimic Swede, while keeping an almost difference. A dual translation process takes place where the adoptee’s body is translated from a body of a difference that is total into a mimic Swede, while a version of Swedishness is translated onto the body. As a mimic, the adoptee communicates their (almost) sameness through an excessive, but limited version of Swedishness, while disavowing their difference.However, their difference is still visible, and continuously communicated through (mis)recognition by others. The adoptee’s mimicry is prone to turn into menace, where they pose a threat to the identity of the white Swede and meanings of white Swedishness.Key Words: Transnational/-racial Adoption; Mimicry; Colonial Translation; DeconstructiveNarrative Analysis; Sweden

Las primeras generaciones de intelectuales africanos educados en los sistemas occidentales se apropiaron las lenguas coloniales y las manipularon a su voluntad para que fueran capaces de expresar el mestizaje cultural. En el contexto poscolonial todo acto de creación literaria representa una toma de posición respecto al mundo heredado del imperialismo.En la traducción de textos poscoloniales africanos hay que diferenciar bien dos procesos: el de los escritores en lenguas coloniales, que tratan de reflejar la hibridación de la sociedad poscolonial de la que proceden mediante un trabajo de creación-traducción; y el de los traductores, cuya labor consiste en hacer accesibles dichos textos a un público lector por lo general desconocedor del contexto cultural híbrido.En conclusión, el conocimiento en profundidad de las problemáticas que encierra la producción literaria poscolonial puede hacer tomar conciencia al traductor de literatura poscolonial de su papel de transmisor de una determinada imagen de las culturas poscoloniales.