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Rousseau,Villon,andVoltaire.ŻeleńskiwaskilledbytheNazisin1941and
didnotcompletehistranslationofProust.Itislargelyduetohiseffortsthat
foreignliteratureoccupiesitspresentprestigiouspositionintheliterarycanonof
Poland.EquallyimportantarethetranslationsoftheRussianRomanticpoets
(suchasPushkinandLermontov)andSymbolists(suchasBalmont,Blok,and
Briusov)byoneofthegreatestPolishpoetsoftheperiod,JulianTuwim(1894–
1953).Tuwim’swellknownessay‘Traduttore–traditore’,publishedin1950,
castigatedincompetenttranslatorsandputforwardaproposalfororganizing
regulardiplomacoursesfortranslators.Tuwimsuggestedthatcandidatesshould
passaseriesofexaminationsonlanguage,stylisticsandculture;onlythosewho
successfullycompletedthecoursewouldthenbeallowedtopublishtheirwork.
InthefirstdecadesofthetwentiethcenturyPolishbecameasourcelanguage
fortranslation.Polishnovelistsofthetimecontributedsignificantlytotheworld
literarycanon.Quovadis,whichearnedHenrykSienkiewicz(1846–1916)the
NobelPrizein1905,wastranslatedintomanylanguages;itremainedonthelist
ofFrenchbestsellersuntilquiterecently.AmodernAmericantranslationof
Sienkiewicz’s3volumehistoricalsagaaboutseventeenthcenturyPoland
(Ogniemimieczem,Potop,PanWołodyjowski,translatedbyS.Kuniczakas
WithFireandSword,TheDeluge,FireintheSteppe)appearedintheUSA
in1991–2,andimmediatelygainedconsiderablepopularity.By1916,the
numberoftranslationsofnovelsbySienkiewicz’scontemporary,Eliza
Orzeszkowa(1841–1910),hadexceeded200inRussiaalone.Variousnovels
byanotherPolishNobelprizewinner,WładysławReymont(1867–1925),were
translatedintoseverallanguages.
Thepresenttime
Asinearlierperiods,thechoiceoftextsandlanguagesfortranslationin
contemporaryPolandhasbeenconditionedbythepoliticalsituation.Therevival
ofculturallifeafterWorldWarIIunderRussiandominanceresultedin
prioritizingthetranslationandreprintingofworkswhichwereseentobe
‘politicallycorrect’.In1956,labourriotsinthecityofPoznańwereruthlessly
suppressed,resultinginthedeathofsomefiftythreepeople.Inthewakeof
theseevents,aperiodofpolitical‘thaw’began,whichstimulatedaninfluxof
worksbysuchwritersasSartre,SaintExupéryandCamus.Polishtranslations
ofFaulkner,SteinbeckandHemingwayhadagreatimpactonPolishreaders,
whoalsoshowedagrowinginterestinbothclassicalandmoderndrama,
includingShakespeare,Molière,LopedeVega,Calderon,Goldoni,Goethe,
Schiller,GeorgeBernardShaw,Brecht,Ionesco,Beckett,Dürrenmatt,and
Genet.In1969,MaciejSłomczynski(b.1920)publishedhistranslationof
JamesJoyce’sUlysses,whichsoonbecameamajorculturalevent.Several
publishinghouseslaunchedthematicseriesoftranslations,forexampleon
modernnovels,Scandinavianauthors,writersofLatinAmerica,and
contemporaryCatholicwriters.
Anothersignificantshiftcameafterthepoliticalupheavalof1989.The
abolishmentofstatecensorshipandtheappearanceofprivatepublishinghouses
soonbroughtaboutanavalancheoftranslatedbooks.Theboomprovedtobe
amixedblessing.Inadditiontointernationalbestsellers,alargenumberof
substandardbooksbegantoappearinequallysubstandardPolishtranslations,
andtheywereoftenpromotedashighlyrepresentativeofthelongforbidden
cultureoftheWest.
Inthehumanities,translationhasoftenprovedtobethemosteffectivemeans
availableforfillingthegapsleftbyfortyyearsofcommunistrule.Examples
includetwotranslationsintoPolish;oneofacomprehensivehistoryofPoland
writtenbyaBritishhistorian(God’sPlaygroundbyNormanDavies,1981;
Polishedition1990,1991),andtheotherofTheHistoryofPolishLiterature
byCzesławMiłosz(1969;Polishedition1993).Miłosz,awriter,poetand
NobelPrizeholder,isaPolishémigréwhooriginallywrotethebookforhis
Americanstudents.
Today,(American)Englishisbyfarthemostimportantsourcelanguagein
literaryaswellasnonliterarytranslation.Thenumberofprofessionaltranslators
andinterpreters,whooftenspecializeintermsoftranslatingasingleauthoror
translatingwithinasinglefieldofknowledge,continuestogrowtomeetthe
demandsofanexpandingbookmarketandafreemarketeconomy.