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Part of
Key Cultural Texts in Translation
Edited by Kirsten Malmkjær, Adriana Şerban and Fransiska Louwagie
[Benjamins Translation Library 140] 2018
► pp. 79–92

Chapter 5
Communicating change

Two contemporary Polish novels in translation into English

This article investigates English translations of two contemporary Polish novels – Dorota Masłowska’s Wojna polsko-ruska pod flagą biało-czerwoną (Snow White and Russian Red or White and Red) and Michał Witkowski’s Lubiewo (Lovetown). Both can be regarded as key cultural texts as they describe Poland’s relationship with its communist past. In Masłowska’s novel, the post-1989 transition is seen from the perspective of a drug-addled thug, while Witkowski’s book reminisces about the lives of the Polish gay community of the communist era, which his characters prefer to democratic, modern Poland. Since the tensions accompanying the social and political transition are poignantly inscribed in the novels’ language, failure to transfer certain linguistic aspects in translation threatens these works’ status as key cultural texts.
Keywords: Polish novels, transition from communism to democracy, Dorota Masłowska, Michał Witkowski
Article outline
  • 1.Key Cultural Texts and the concept of change
  • 2.Mapping the journey
  • 3.Historical context: Poland after 1989
  • 4.Narratives of new Poland
  • 5.Words of the past
  • 6.Dialogue with tradition
  • 7.Educating Polish Queens
  • 8.Thugs will be thugs
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Bibliography
Published online: 16 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.140.05cri
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