Comme traductrice dell’Amante militare de Carlo Goldoni et du Congrès de Cythère de Francesco Algarotti, deux œuvres de deux grands auteurs italiens de l’époque des lumières, publiées en polonais dans les années 1780, Marianna Maliszewska s’est révélée être une médiatrice culturelle pourvue d’une bonne connaissance de la langue et de la culture italiennes (malgré quelques défaillances). Dans sa traduction du roman d’Algarotti, elle a effectué des coupures et des adaptations ponctuelles en pensant aux nouveaux lecteurs, sans toutefois poloniser le texte et sans fournir, dans les paratextes, d’informations qui pourraient niveler la différence des compétences entre les lecteurs de l’original et ceux de la version polonaise, en ce qui concerne la connaissance de la littérature italienne. Par contre, elle y fait part de son expérience directe de l’Italie, de son opinion critique de l’Arcadie et de sa conviction que les femmes sont défavorisées sur le marché de la culture. Certaines modifications apportées dans le texte même de la traduction correspondent avec ce point de vue «féministe».
The paper focuses on peritexts (Gérard Genette) in Polish Enlightenment translations of three Italian texts: Francesco Algarotti’s novel Il congresso di Citera (1745, 1763; the Polish version ca. 1788), Cesare Beccaria’s treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764; the Polish version 1772) and Giovanni Barberi’s ideological text Compendio della vita, e delle gesta di Giuseppe Balsamo denominato il conte Cagliostro (1791; the Polish version 1793). Their translators: Marianna Maliszewska, Teodor Waga, and Grzegorz Kniażewicz, added a significant amount of their own introductions and notes to the hypertext, which reflected a widespread tendency in Polish literature, both original and translated, in that period. The information given in the translators’ peritext is analysed here in order to trace manipulation within cultural mediation. The translators take different approaches. Maliszewska’s comments lack the exegetic function, while the observed elements of manipulation may be down to her deficiency in cultural competence and to her low status as a translator. Waga, who uses all kinds of translator’s notes, seems reliable and non-confrontational. His comments are mostly intended to make sure that the text is read according to the author’s intentions and to the Enlightenment outlook. Kniażewicz is the most polemical, partly towards the author of the peritext in the French version of the translated text, which he abuses rather than uses. His peritext definitely indoctrinates the reader and the extent of manipulation in his notes is the largest.
The paper centres on peritexts (G. Genette) in Polish Enlightenment translations of three Italian texts: Francesco Algarotti’s novel Il congresso di Citera (1745, 1763; the Polish version ca. 1788), Cesare Beccaria’s treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764; the Polish version 1772) and Giovanni Barberi’s ideological text Compendio della vita, e delle gesta di Giuseppe Balsamo denominato il conte Cagliostro (1791; the Polish version 1793). Their translators, Marianna Maliszewska, Teodor Waga and Grzegorz Kniażewicz, added a significant amount of their own introductions and notes to the hypertexts, which reflected a widespread tendency in Polish literature, both original and translated, in that period. The information given in the translators’ peritexts is analysed here in order to trace manipulation within cultural mediation. The translators take different approaches. Maliszewska’s comments lack the exegetic function, while the observed elements of manipulation seem due to her deficiency in cultural competence and to her low status as a translator. Waga, who uses all kinds of translator’s notes, seems reliable and non-confrontational. His comments are mostly intended to make sure that the text is read according to the author’s intentions and to the Enlightenment outlook. Kniażewicz is the most polemical, partly towards the author of the peritexts in the French version the translated text, which he abuses rather than uses. His peritexts definitely indoctrinate the reader and the extent of manipulation in them is the largest.
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