Tłumaczenie parodii – przestrzeń eksperymentu? (Tuwim, Leśmian i zaproszenie do gry)

Translating Parody as a Domain of Experiment

The author explores the possibilities of parody translation, based on a 1933 Polish literary example. Poet Julian Tuwim imitates with a vengeance the highly idiosyncratic diction of Bolesław Leśmian, including the latter’s signature trait, neologisms, while styling the piece as a supposed rewriting of a familiar children’s rhyme (folk song) about a kitten. This second hypotext is diagnosed as ancillary and it is argued that a translation of the ‘X as would have been written by Y’ parody should harness a replacement of X, functional for the target culture. As an experiment, possible substitutes are suggested for the Russian and Anglo-Saxon cultures, correspondent with the languages into which Leśmian, the parodied poet, has been quite extensively rendered. The author discusses factors conditioning the translatability of parody, including reception in the target context. The analysis closes with a call for translations. One such response to the challenge is appended.