Abstrakt
The paper investigates the issue how Polish translators of William Shakespeare’s King Lear dealt with rendering Lear’s monologue (Act IV, Scene 6, ll. 107-132), being a misogynistic tirade of the mad king against adultery, sexuality, and women in general. The play was translated into Polish at least fifteen times in the 19th and 20th centuries, beginning with the oldest published rendition by Ignacy Hołowiński (1841) and concluding with the most recent one by Jerzy S. Sito (2001). The paper analyses seven selected fragments taking into consideration lexical and stylistic choices made by the translators of the monologue in order to show how changing attitudes to sexual taboo and Shakespearean obscenities affected the translations in question. The analysis reveals the evolution of translators’ attitudes to those issues (also affected by contemporary Shakespearean research): from euphemistic treatment of the topic in the 19th century, through philological translations of Tarnawski and Chwalewik, to unrestricted modern renditions of Słomczyński and Barańczak, and the extreme case of straightforward obscene translation of Jerzy S. Sito.
Bibliografia
Original text source:
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. [In:] Crystal, David, Ben Crystal ShakespearesWords.com. Retrieved from: https://shakespeareswords.com/Public/Play.aspx?Content=Text&WorkId=11&Act=4&Scene=6. Date: 12–25 September 2019.
Translations (in the chronological order of publication):
Shakespeare, William ([n.d.] 1841) Król Lear. Translated by Ignacy Kefaliński [I. Hołowiński]. Wilno: T. Glücksberg.
Shakespeare, Willjam ([n.d.] 1858) Król Lear. Translated by Jan Komierowski, Warszawa: S. Orgelbrand.
[Shakespeare, William] ([n.d.] 1860) Król Lir. Tragedya W. Szekspira. Translated by Józef Paszkowski, Warszawa: Biblioteka Warszawska.
Shakespeare, William ([1838-41] 1866) Król Lyr. Translated by Stanisław Koźmian. Poznań: Księgarnia Jana Konstantego Żupańskiego.
[Shakespeare, William] ([n.d.] 1870) Król Lir. Tragedja Szekspira w 5 aktach. Translated by Adam Pług [Antoni Pietkiewicz]. Lwów: Wydawnictwo Mrówki.
Shakespeare, William ([1838–41] 1895) Król Lear. Translated by Leon Ulrich. Warszawa: Gebethner i Wolff.
[Shakespeare, William] ([n.d] 1904) Król Lear. Tragedya w 5 aktach W. Szekspira. Translated by Wojciech Dzieduszycki. Kraków: Drukarnia „Czasu.”
Shakespeare, William ([n.d.] 1922) Król Lir. Tragedja w 5 aktach. Translated by Jan Kasprowicz. Warszawa: Instytut Wyd. „Biblioteka Polska.”
Szekspir, William ([n.d.] 1923) Król Lir. Tragedja w 5 aktach. Translated by Andrzej Tretiak. Kraków: Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza.
Szekspir, William ([n.d.] 1951) Otello, Król Lir, Makbet. Translated by Zofia Siwicka. Warszawa: „Książka i Wiedza.”
Szekspir, William ([1952] 1957) Król Lear. Translated by Władysław Tarnawski. Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
Szekspir, William ([n.d.] 1964) Król Lear. Translated by Witold Chwalewik. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Shakespeare, William ([1972] 1979) Wiernie spisane dzieje żywota i śmierci króla Leara i jego trzech córek. Translated by Maciej Słomczyński. Kraków: Wyd. Literackie.
Shakespeare, William ([1980] 1991) Król Lear. Translated by Stanisław Barańczak. Poznań: Wydawnictwo “W drodze.”
Shakespeare, William ([1992] 2004) Król Lear. Sonety. Translated by Jerzy S. Sito. Warszawa: Polskie Media Amer. Com.
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