Återberättats

Återberättats is a Swedish verb form meaning that a story, account, or statement has been retold or recounted by someone other than the original teller. It is the past participle of återberätta, formed to express that the narration has been passed on or re-narrated, often in a new version or interpretation. In practice, the form is most commonly used in combination with have/has or other auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses in the passive voice, for example: Historien har återberättats av flera vittnen.

The term is widely used in literary criticism, folklore studies, journalism, and historiography to discuss transmission, variation, and reception of narratives. It emphasizes how a tale changes through repetition, censorship, or editorial decision, and it can raise questions about authenticity and bias in the retelling. In oral traditions, återberättats highlights the fluidity of memory and the role of the storyteller in shaping what is remembered. In written sources, it can indicate that a text presents another version of events rather than the original account.

Grammatical notes: återberättats is a finite form used in the passive voice; the corresponding non-finite forms include återberättat or återberättad when used as adjectives in attributive or predicative positions, depending on gender and number. Example sentences illustrate its use in discussing how narratives are transmitted and transformed through time.