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Portmanteaus, Blends and Contaminations in Polish Translations of “Jabberwocky”

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Negotiating Translation and Transcreation of Children's Literature

Part of the book series: New Frontiers in Translation Studies ((NFTS))

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Abstract

Blends and contaminations are quite frequent and natural in English but very rare and odd in Polish. The systemic differences alone between these languages make it difficult to translate Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” into Polish. This nonsense poem abounds in portmanteau words and neologisms, which makes it strange and exceptional even in English. Is it stranger, more exceptional and nonsensical in Polish? Are Polish translators capable of creating as many words with two meanings packed into one word as Carroll was? Do their translations parody didactic poetry and turn it into macabre in the same way as the original? The answers to all these questions appear to be positive—and one is also very surprising. Although it contradicts the word-formation norms of their target language, the vast majority of Polish translators (11 out of 13) use many more portmanteaus than Lewis Carroll himself. These contaminations are longer and more explicit than the original ones, which makes the Polish versions of “Jabberwocky” easier to comprehend and more “child-friendly”.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This issue, although it certainly requires thorough research, will not be considered in this chapter due to its limited scope.

  2. 2.

    The issue of dual address in the Alice books and their translations into Polish is discussed in: Brajerska-Mazur 2015: 197–215.

  3. 3.

    Again, the limited scope of this chapter does not allow for an extensive analysis. Some features of selected Polish renditions of “Jabberwocky” have been discussed in: Stiller 1973: 351–352, 355–362 (Słomczyński’s version); Korwin-Mikke 1980: 346–353 (renditions by Stiller, Marianowicz); Stiller 1980: 354–368 (Korwin-Mikke’s translation); Kozak 2006: 22–23 (Słomczyński’s version); Northeast 2013: 50–53 (renditions by Słomczyński, Stiller, Kozak, Marianowicz, Barańczak, Kaniewska, Gomulicki, Korwin-Mikke); Rajewska 2015: 220–237 (Barańczak, Słomczyński, Stiller, Kozak, Marianowicz); Dorota 2017: 29–55 (Stiller’s, Korwin-Mikke’s and Wasowski’s renderings).

  4. 4.

    Mikke discusses Marianowicz’s technique and translation approach which stayed the same when the latter translated “Jabberwocky” into Polish in 1998.

  5. 5.

    Central translations determine separate, specific and very clear lines when it comes to translation strategies and the approaches of particular translators. They serve as a basis for obtaining the optimal translation in the series (Legeżyńska 1986: 219).

  6. 6.

    Cf. The example provided in the “brillig” chart.

  7. 7.

    The first number in brackets indicates the number of portmanteaus, the second – the number of neologisms to which the portmanteaus belong.

  8. 8.

    Some Polish readers may also associate this part of the blend not with “klucząc” (“meander”) but with “gulgocząc” (“gurgle”) thus this portmanteau may as well be included in the second group of Polish translations of “burble.”

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of German Studies and Applied Linguistics, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland

    Agata Brajerska-Mazur

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  1. Agata Brajerska-Mazur
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pedagogical University of Kraków, Kraków, Poland

    Joanna Dybiec-Gajer

  2. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Riitta Oittinen

  3. Pedagogical University of Kraków, Kraków, Poland

    Małgorzata Kodura

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Brajerska-Mazur, A. (2020). Portmanteaus, Blends and Contaminations in Polish Translations of “Jabberwocky”. 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_9

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