Polyphony in Translation. Multivocality vs Translator's Voice
The aim of the paper is to discuss the book by Magdalena Pytlak on Polish and Bulgarian translations of Dostoyevski’s novel The Devils. Pytlak presents a diachronic analysis of the presence of Dostoyevski’s work in both contexts and singles out the canonical translations for each of them: Zagórski/Podgórzec for Polish and Rajczew for Bulgarian ones. Bachtin’s notion of narrative polyphony is the main methodological tool Pytlak uses. Conclusions drawn for the detailed analysis of translation series in both languages concern the level of trust on the part of the translator towards both the writer and the reader. The translator’s task is not to explain but let the reader decide for themselves as to the interpretation of the translated text. This controversial idea is an object of discussion in the present paper.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the book by Magdalena Pytlak on Polish and Bulgarian translations of Dostoyevski’s novel The Devils. Pytlak presents a diachronic analysis of the presence of Dostoyevski’s work in both contexts and singles out the canonical translations for each of them: Zagórski/Podgórzec for Polish and Rajczew for Bulgarian ones. Bachtin’s notion of narrative polyphony is the main methodological tool Pytlak uses. Conclusions drawn for the detailed analysis of translation series in both languages concern the level of trust on the part of the translator towards both the writer and the reader. The translator’s task is not to explain but let the reader decide for themselves as to the interpretation of the translated text. This controversial idea is an object of discussion in the present paper.