Abstract
J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens combines almost all translation problems that can be found in children’s classics. These include, first of all, the method of building the textual world, immersed in the realities of space and time, the double address of the text, whose designed recipient is suspended—much like Peter Pan himself—between childhood and adulthood. Secondly, the complexity of the narrative, based on the interweaving of voices, as well as the multiplicity of stylisations, humour, lyricism combined with nostalgia and the fairy-tale quality. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was translated into Polish only twice—by Zofia Rogoszówna in 1913 and by Maciej Słomczyński in 1991. These two translations, telling the Peter’s story in two different and somehow antithetical voices, can be analysed not only in terms of narrative and linguistic issues but also in terms of literary conventions influencing the translation, censorship by the translator, and the ways translators understand their role towards the texts and their audiences (translator-moralist versus impartial objectivist). The main aim of the chapter is to discuss translation challenges in Barrie’s novel and analyse different strategies followed in the translation process. This critical perspective is complemented with a practical attitude developed while working on a new Polish translation of Peter Pan in Kensinton Gardens, created with the willingness to restore and refresh this slightly forgotten masterpiece for the Polish reader.
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Notes
- 1.
In 1938, Piotruś Pan w ogrodzie and Piotruś Pan i Wandzia, translated by Alicja Strasmowa (Barrie 1906/1938), were also published. However, these were not translations of Barrie’s original works, but of their English adaptations made in 1925 by May Byron, who only loosely based her books on Barrie’s original, focussing on the story aspect and neglecting or even omitting the style and character of the originals. For understandable reasons, the same applies to Strasmanowa’s translations, which may be faithful to Byron’s texts, but will have little to contribute to the discussion on Barrie’s originals. For this reason, I will not examine Piotruś Pan w ogrodzie in any detail, focussing on two fully-fledged translations of the work.
- 2.
Any emphasis in the quoted excerpts has been added by me—A. W.
- 3.
Although the Kensington Gardens are categorised as a royal park, the reader can be reasonably suspicious when reading in Rogoszówna’s translation about “mały książę Henryś, który mazgaił się przez całe trzy dni bez żadnego powodu i za karę przyprowadzono go do Parku Leśnego w sukience jego siostrzyczki” [the little prince Henry, who had been crying for the whole three days without any reason and was brought to the Forest Park in his little sister’s dress as a punishment]. No matter how rude Henry could be, the British monarchy is certainly not in a habit of exposing the royal offspring „as a punishment” to the ridicule of subjects walking in the park. In the case of the ‘książę’, the translator was most likely deceived by the name of the boy, Marmaduke, in which the word „duke” appears, but in this case not so much indicating the actual „duke” as the Irish, or Gaelic, origin of the name, associated with the cult of St. Máedóc of Ferns.
- 4.
At this point, it is worth pointing out Barrie’s own storytelling technique: “I ought to mention here that the following is our way with a story: First I tell it to him, and then he tells it to me, the understanding being that it is quite a different story; and then I retell it with his additions, and so we go on until no one could say whether it is more his story or mine”. (Barrie 1906 21), Maria Tatar calls it “conarrative” and adds that rather than “telling stories to children”, it evolves into telling stories “with children” (Tatar 2011a: 46).
- 5.
Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska writes about the fact that translating children’s literature must necessarily be adapted to the prevailing trends and submitted to a number of literary or moral conventions: “Translation always reflects the tastes of the era in which it was created, and the conventions in native literature usually have an impact on translation literature. [...] This phenomenon is certainly more visible in the translations of poetry [...] but it also appears in prose, especially in that which is strongly subject to the pressure and conventions of the times, such as children’s literature” (Adamczyk-Garbowska 1988: 147–148; see also Adamczyk-Garbowska 1984: 17–25).
- 6.
Barrie often presents a similar picture of adults (especially adult men): Mr. Darling, who constantly demands respect from his wife and children, blinded by his own “authority”, turns out to be a coward and liar, who cannot admit having made a mistake, and masks his embarrassment with a false sense of humor. The injustice with which adults treat their children under the guise of caring for their own authority offended Barrie enormously.
- 7.
Choiński points to the etymology of the word, originating from the Latin fatum and associating fairies with Parkas, weaving threads of human fate. It is also important that fairies are part of the Celtic belief system where the word existed almost from the very beginning and has gained successive meanings over the centuries.
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Appendix
Appendix
Arthur Rackham’s illustrations for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906) (Figs. 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4).
When he heard Peter’s voice he popped in alarm behind a tulip (Chap. II)
The fairies have their tiffs with the birds (Chap. II)
The fairies sit round on mushrooms, and at first they are well-behaved (Chap. IV)
“My Lord Duke”, said the physician elatedly, “I have the honour to inform your excellency that your grace is in love”. (Chap. V)
Primary Sources
Barrie, James Matthew. 1906. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
———. 1991. Piotruś Pan w Ogrodach Kensingtońskich. Trans. M. Słomczyński. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie.
———. 2011. The Annotated Peter Pan. The Continental Edition. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by M. Tatar. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
———. 1938. Piotruś Pan w ogrodzie. Ed. for children by M. Byron, trans. A. Strasmanowa. Warszawa: Księgarnia Literacka.
———. 1913. Przygody Piotrusia Pana. Edited by Z. Rogoszówna, ill. A. Rackham. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Jakuba Mortkowicza.
———. 2018. Piotruś Pan w Ogrodach Kensingtońskich. Trans. A. Wieczorkiewicz, ill. M. Minor. Poznań: Media Rodzina.
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Wieczorkiewicz, A. (2020). Translators in Kensington Gardens: Polish Translations of J. M. Barrie’s First Peter Pan Novel. In: Dybiec-Gajer, J., Oittinen, R., Kodura, M. (eds) Negotiating Translation and Transcreation of Children's Literature. New Frontiers in Translation Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2433-2_6
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