Piotr Blumczyński

The article opens with the introduction of Joel Chandler Harris and his literary output. As one of “local colourists,” Harris depicted American plantation life in 19th-century Georgia and included many cultural as well as folk elements in his works. The following analysis of his stories about Uncle Remus focuses on (1) the levels of narration; (2) the linguistic complexity of the text (the stories abound in slang and dialectal expressions); (3) the form; and (4) the folklore value. These four aspects guide the discussion of the only Polish translation of the Uncle Remus stories. Prepared by Władysława Wielińska in 1929, it was addressed to children. Therefore, the article aims to determine the profile of the translation as a children’s book, to consider it in relation to the skopos of the source text and to establish the extent to which it preserved the peculiar character of the Uncle Remus stories.

This article provides a detailed analysis of the Polish translation of a manual of
homiletics against the background of the broader question regarding the translator’s
workshop. The various translational solutions are subsequently discussed in sections
devoted to grammatical and lexical errors, metaphorical and terminological incoherence,
and collocational and stylistic errors. It is suggested that the deficient workshop of the
translator manifested in numerous errors, chiefly attributable to insufficient understanding
of the source language by the translator, may correspond to the quasitheological
conviction according to which the crucial characteristic of the translator is
his or her passion rather than linguistic competence. The article ends with the appeal
to translators of various texts – not just theological ones – to observe the ancient
principle of primum non nocere in order to ensure the acceptable quality of their
works.

Restoring the original meaning: Jewish translations of the New
Testament
Among dozens of new translations of the New Testament published in the last fifty
years, there are several versions by Jewish scholars which have not yet received
enough attention. The article offers an analysis of the most characteristic features of
these translations, such as criticism of the existing versions expressed in introductory
sections, as well as actual techniques by means of which the Jewish origin and
character of the text is emphasized in three spheres: superficial, cultural and rel igious,
and theological, each of them illustrated with examples juxtaposed with
traditional versions. It is argued that regardless of the ideological motivation underlying
the origin of the Jewish translations of the New Testament, they offer valuable
and otherwise unavailable insights into the original message of the ancient
Christian writings.

Among dozens of new translations of the New Testament published in the
last fi fty years, there are several versions by Jewish scholars which have yet to receive
enough attention. This article offers an analysis of the most characteristic features of
these translations, such as criticism of the existing versions outlined in the introductory
sections, as well as actual techniques by which the Jewish origin and character of the
text is emphasised in three spheres: superfi cial, cultural and religious, and theological.
Each of these is illustrated with numerous examples, juxtaposed with traditional
versions. It is argued that, regardless of the ideological motivation underlying the origin
of the Jewish translations of the New Testament, they offer valuable and otherwise
unavailable insights into the original message of the ancient Christian writings.

From the American Plantation to the Interwar Poland: How Uncle Remus Became Bam-Bo the Negro
The article opens with the introduction of Joel Chandler Harris and his literary output,
since Harris is unfamiliar to Polish readers, despite his well-established position in
the American literary canon. As a so-called local colorist, Harris depicted American
plantation life in 19th-century Georgia: he included many cultural and folk elements in
his works. The analysis of his stories about Uncle Remus concentrates on (1) the levels
of narration; (2) the linguistic complexity of the text (the stories abound in slang and
dialectal expressions); (3) the form; and (4) the folklore value. The same four aspects
of the analysis guide the discussion of the Polish translation of Harris’s work. The only
Polish version of his stories comes from 1929 and was done by Władysława Wielińska.
As the target audience of the translation were children, the ultimate aim of this analysis
is to determine the profi le of the translation as a book for children, to consider it against
the skopos of the source text, and to establish the extent to which the peculiar character
of Uncle Remus stories was preserved.