Translating the World. Socio-translation Studies According to Alicja Iwańska

The article focuses on cultural translation and its ethical consequences according to Alicja Iwańska (1918–1996), a Polish sociologist and writer. In her book Świat przetłumaczony [The Translated World] (1968) Iwańska uses a figure of a translator-traitor while trying to translate Mexico conquered by the Spanish to Poland ruined by the Nazis and  Stalinists – the book was the literary aftermath of her field work on the culture of Indian Mazahua of a secluded Mexican village. The scientific aftermath of the same research was her anthropological monograph Purgatory and Utopia. A Mazahua Indian Village of Mexico (1971). The first book, written in Polish, was described by the author as “a  fictionalized account”, “a literary production”; the second, written in English, was designed as “relatively free from the interference of extra-scientific emotional elements”. For Alicja Iwańska, before the Second World War a philosophy student under prof. Tatarkiewicz, translating a culture is an ethical problem; the complex relations between truth, falsity and fiction in intercultural translation are coupled with the issues of expressibility in a specific narrative (literary versus scientific) and a specific language (Polish versus English). Iwańska’s books, read again after 50 years from their creation, seem to be a forgotten link of the Polish translation theory.

On the Life and Work of Zofia Ernst

My aim in this article is to present the life and work of Zofia Ernstowa, nee Kostanecka (1918–1994), an ardent connoisseur of Italian culture and literature and an accomplished translator of Italian books for adults and children. In my argument, I draw on the ethnographic approach, using a very common ethnographic tool: the qualitative interview (structured interview) to address important moments and events in Ernst’s life. The focus on the life-story of one translator will help me depict the environment in which she lived and worked as well as identify her embedment in particular familial and professional settings which crucially affected her work. I will also discuss Ernst’s formative contribution to the image of Italian literature in Poland in the years 1953–1979, i.e. in the period of her translation activity.

“Shakespeare, He was Quite a Gifted Fellow”. The Beginning of Stanisław Barańczak’s Career as a Translator

This biographical paper describes Stanisław Barańczak’s first attempts at translating poetry as a high school student in 1964. The aim of the paper is to present the birth of his philological passion, and to answer the question of how Barańczak becomes a translator. The presentation is basis on six unpublished translations of Russian and English language poems found in the correspondence of Barańczak and in the hitherto unknown memories his school friends.
The analysis focuses on the technique of Barańczak’s translatoion work, on reconstructing his motivations, selection of texts for translation, self-assessment of the results, opinions on the authors of the original and evaluation of pop-culture. In addition, the paper offers several facts from the private life of the teenage translator, among others the decision to study Polish philology, as well as his relations with his high school colleagues and teachers.

Self-Translation: Between National Literature and “World Citizenship” (the Case of Maria Kuncewiczowa and Janusz Głowacki)

Around 1949 Maria Kuncewiczowa worked on the project of ‘world citizenship’ – a remedy for those writers whom circumstances made stateless. In her view, the category of ‘world citizenship’ allowed to see one’s country from the perspective of the world. She also argued that knowledge of a foreign language was a promising way of opening up national, regional and doctrinal ‘ghettos’. Following her ideas, the article presents selftranslation as a phenomenon that exceeds one national context and creates a discursive space in which literature denies clear linguistic and cultural borders. After a brief outline of self-translation in the 20th-century Polish literature, the article analyses  Kuncewiczowa’s self-translation of the play Thank You for the Rose (1950–1960) and Janusz Głowacki’s assisted self-translation of the play Antygona w Nowym Jorku (1992). In discussing the two case studies, the article pays particular attention to the idea of ‘world citizenship’ in relation to the concept of national literature.

Indirect Translation in 20th-Century Polish-Italian Intercultural Exchange: A Reconnaissance

The aim of the paper, which brings together the results of a reconnaissance research, is to provide a preliminary overview of selected issues and textual practices related to indirect translation in the Polish-Italian intercultural exchange in the 20th century. In Polish literary translation studies, the significance of indirect translation has been seriously undervalued, especially in research on literary translation from Polish as a source language. Many classical works of Polish prominent authors (like Witold Gombrowicz,  Czesław Miłosz, Stanisław Lem) were published in Italy as a result of indirect translation (translated via one of the “central” languages, usually French or English, or by a bilingual team of translators). After discussing main terminological and methodological issues, the study presents two “microhistorical” examples – La casa delle donne: Zofia Nałkowska’s Dom kobiet translated in 1930 by Sibilla Aleramo via intermediary translations into French and Italian, and Witold Gombrowicz’s Ferdydurke, translated into Italian in 1961  by Sergio Miniussi via French and Spanish, under the supervision of Konstanty A. Jeleński. These two cases, exemplify different text typologies and practical approaches to the translation process.

Like in a Distorting Mirror. The Image of French Children’s Literature through Translation in Poland after 1918

“Translation is one of the core practices through which any cultural group constructs representations of another” (Baker 2014: 15). The shape of these images is influenced by the selection of translated source culture texts, and by the translation itself, i.e. the way it was achieved. In the case of literature, publishers are responsible for the selection of translated works, and translators for the choice of the solutions implemented in the text. This article focuses on the publishers’ choices and their impact on the image of the source literature given to the target culture readers. I analyzed from this point of view the history of translation of French children’s literature from 1918–2014. The study was carried out using a bibliometric approach. The period under consideration was divided into three shorter ones: the Second Republic (1918–1944), People’s Poland (1945–1989) and the Third Republic (from 1990). For each of them (a) we presented the situation of the publishing market and children’s literature at that time, (b) we defined the place of  ranslated French children’s literature against the background of the entire production available for this group of readers, (c) we presented the choices of the publishers of  Polish translations, paying special attention to “white spots” and deformations in the translation import.
The conclusions show the existing inadequacy between the actual shape and character of French children’s literature in the last century and the image which was given of this literature to its Polish audience due to the choices of the publishers of the translations.

„Small” History of Translation. The Golden Age of English Literature for Children in Polish Translations: An Outline

The Golden Age of English-language literature for children began about 1865, when Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published, and it continued with the works of writers such as Louisa May Alcott, James Matthew Barrie, Lyman Frank Baum, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Kenneth Grahame, Rudyard Kipling, Hugh Lofting, Alan Alexander Milne, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Edith Nesbit, Beatrix Potter, Robert Louis Stevenson, Pamela Lyndon Travers or Mark Twain. On the other hand, the first Polish translations of English children’s classics appeared at the end of the 19th century and continued to be published throughout the 20th century. The main aim of the article is twofold. First, it proposes to create an outline of the history of Polish translations of English classical books for children, providing perspectives of translating process in time (from 1870s, when the first translations were published, up to now) as well as in quantity of translated works. Secondly, it attempts to answer the question of mutual influences between cultures, writers and works of art (in translation) and suggests a hypothesis that the masterpieces of Polish children’s literature were somehow “caused” and inspired by the translations of children’s classics created before them.

A Look from Afar: History of Literary Translation in Poland from the Perspective of the Research Project “Histoire de la traduction littéraire en Europe médiane”

Inspired by the questionnaire answered while working on the international research project “Histoire de la traduction littéraire en Europe médiane” (Inalco, France, 2009–2018), the author discusses the reasons behind and the characteristics of pseudotranslations published in Poland after 1945 and of the “urgent” translations done in Poland  between 1945 and 1989.

Fans and Franchises: The Evolution of Factors Influencing Polish Translations |of Speculative Fiction

Polish fans of science fiction, fantasy and horror (here referred to jointly as speculative fiction) emerged as a notable target audience for translations in the 1980s. Widely available translations from English in these genres started to appear in the 1990s, and were instrumental in establishing their popularity in Poland. At that formative stage, the renderings available at this genre-making stage assumed what polysystems theory would call a primary or central position. After the formative period, however, translations have become subject to a number of new pressures: the expectations of a fan audience with an increasing competence in English; the growing accessibility of English-language originals; and the accumulating body of previous translations, including audiovisual and digital texts in major series and franchises. Due to these factors, translations of speculative fiction have been undergoing a demotion from their genre-making role, assuming the default, secondary or peripheral role in the polysystem. Since this role is played in a polysystem they once helped shape, the conservatism of peripheral translations involves their compliance with previous translation standards and canonized renderings, and is reinforced by the influence of digital media, which typically offer vulnerable translations (i.e. translations easily compared to or present alongside original versions). This  goes hand in hand with the emergence of speculative fiction as a shared idiom of popular culture, with its interest in lucrative media franchises and shared universes. As written  texts and their translations now constitute a less prominent section of the spectrum of speculative fiction available to fans, ties to other texts, notably digital and audiovisual ones, may be prioritized over other qualities of translation. The evolution of translations is accompanied by that of the genres’ readership: as an audience, Polish fans of speculative fiction in the 21st century seem to be characterized by their interest primarily in the world depicted by the authors and its consistency.