Embracing the Unembraceable

Tadeusz Szczerbowski’s book Rosyjskie teorie przekładu literackiego (Russian Theories of Literary Translation) consists of 32 chapters focusing on scholars and translators who have voiced infl uential ideas on literary translation over the last hundred years. The scholars whose theories are presented include e.g. O. Potebnia, K. Chukovsky, Y. Retzker, A. Fyodorov, Y. Etkind and M. Gasparov. Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian and Czech scholars have been taken into account as part of the Soviet academic milieu. Importantly, all the material is offered either in Polish translation or in transliteration. Thus, the book presents to Polish readers a wealth of intellectual achievement, until now inaccessible due to the language barrier. The compendium will be of interest to translation scholars; however, it is also perceptibly aimed at students. It describes various individual theoretical models, but in its entirety it also offers an insight into the evolution of translation studies in Russia. Implicit or apparent analogies with the developments in Western Translation Studies are thought provoking – Russian scholars have often anticipated certain trends or concepts. Unfortunately, the compendium is fl awed by over-explaining of historical contexts and by reluctance to evaluate the discussed theories. These weaknesses, as well as the poor editing, call for a second edition of this otherwise useful book.

Embracing the Unembraceable

Tadeusz Szczerbowski’s book Rosyjskie teorie przekładu literackiego (Russian Theories of Literary Translation) consists of 32 chapters focusing on scholars and translators who have voiced infl uential ideas on literary translation over the last hundred years. The scholars whose theories are presented include e.g. O. Potebnia, K. Chukovsky, Y. Retzker, A. Fyodorov, Y. Etkind and M. Gasparov. Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian and Czech scholars have been taken into account as part of the Soviet academic milieu. Importantly, all the material is offered either in Polish translation or in transliteration. Thus, the book presents to Polish readers a wealth of intellectual achievement, until now inaccessible due to the language barrier. The compendium will be of interest to translation scholars; however, it is also perceptibly aimed at students. It describes various individual theoretical models, but in its entirety it also offers an insight into the evolution of translation studies in Russia. Implicit or apparent analogies with the developments in Western Translation Studies are thought provoking – Russian scholars have often anticipated certain trends or concepts. Unfortunately, the compendium is fl awed by over-explaining of historical contexts and by reluctance to evaluate the discussed theories. These weaknesses, as well as the poor editing, call for a second edition of this otherwise useful book.