Jak w krzywym zwierciadle. Przekładowy obraz francuskiej literatury dla dzieci i młodzieży w Polsce po roku 1918

• Published in: Przekładaniec : a journal of literary translation 2018, Vol.37 (37), p.87-103
• Main Author: Paprocka, Natalia
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; pol
• Subjects: French Literature; Methodology and research technology; Recent History (1900 till today); Studies of Literature; Translation Studies
• ISSN: 1425-6851
• DOI: 10.4467/16891864PC.18.014.9556

“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 largely 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 presented 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 research 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) I presented the situation of the publishing market and children’s literature at that time, (b) I defined the place of translated French children’s literature against the background of the entire production available for this group of readers, (c) I presented the choices of the publishers of Polish translations, paying special attention to “white spots” and deformations in the translation import. The conclusions show an inadequacy between the actual shape and character of French children’s literature in the last century and the image of this literature presented to its Polish audience due to the choices of the publishers of the translations.