Translation Criticism in Cyberspace – New Opportunities and Challenges (on Polish Translations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita)

The ongoing digitization of the literary heritage together with the growing competition between publishing houses have led to a situation where translation series of works considered as canonical changed their form of extending from diachronic, linear development in time to synchronic “explosion” of parallel texts, which task is to win readers-consumers with advantages of novelty, distinctness, “inventiveness.” Such translations gain a new function – they become a marketing tool for publishing houses. In my opinion the newest retranslations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is one of the most interesting examples of the process described above. In recent years, new Polish versions of this novel have been published at a dizzying pace (five new translations between 2015 and 2018) and in overwhelming welth (five editions were published in four different translations in 2018 alone). The new translations of Bulgakov’s novel evoke a lively response from the audience. All sorts of analysis, comparisons and opinions have been published not only in scientific journals, but also in daily newspapers, internet forums and in comments in online bookstores. In the Internet, professional translation criticism coexists with private opinions of Internet users (often based on non-literary factors) and with marketing content, advertisements, and blurbs deliberately formed as reviews. In this paper I would like to discuss new roles of professional translation criticism in circumstances described above, analyse its presence in the Internet and try to define its new objects. On the one hand, its voice should be loud and clear enough to be heard in the virtual chaos of texts, on the other hand – persuasive and lucid enough to help readers to become aware of decisions they make by choosing a particular translation and perceive the literary value of texts hidden behind attractive covers of new editions.

The ongoing digitization of the literary heritage together with the growing competition between publishing houses have led to a situation where translation series of works considered as canonical changed their form of extending from diachronic, linear development in time to synchronic “explosion” of parallel texts, which task is to win readers-consumers with advantages of novelty, distinctness, “inventiveness.” Such translations gain a new function – they become a marketing tool for publishing houses. In my opinion the newest retranslations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is one of the most interesting examples of the process described above. In recent years, new Polish versions of this novel have been published at a dizzying pace (five new translations between 2015 and 2018) and in overwhelming welth (five editions were published in four different translations in 2018 alone). The new translations of Bulgakov’s novel evoke a lively response from the audience. All sorts of analysis, comparisons and opinions have been published not only in scientific journals, but also in daily newspapers, internet forums and in comments in online bookstores. In the Internet, professional translation criticism coexists with private opinions of Internet users (often based on non-literary factors) and with marketing content, advertisements, and blurbs deliberately formed as reviews. In this paper I would like to discuss new roles of professional translation criticism in circumstances described above, analyse its presence in the Internet and try to define its new objects. On the one hand, its voice should be loud and clear enough to be heard in the virtual chaos of texts, on the other hand – persuasive and lucid enough to help readers to become aware of decisions they make by choosing a particular translation and perceive the literary value of texts hidden behind attractive covers of new editions.