Hanna PIĘTA (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, Portugal)

Translation of Polish literary and non-literary texts on the Portuguese book market: publishing houses, anthologies and collections


The main purpose of this contribution will be to reflect upon the differing motivations, goals and functions of publishing houses, anthologies and collections in the Portuguese reception of Polish literary and non-literary texts published in book form from the 19th century onwards. By doing so, the paper intends to contribute to the mapping of the Portuguese book market and its editorial practices. It also seeks to provide a broader understanding of the cultural exchange between Poland and Portugal.
Building upon Bourdieu’s theory of the field of publishing and his reflections on the international circulation of ideas (Bourdieu 2002), the paper will be structured in line with the methodological directions proposed by Gisèle Sapiro (2008). Particular examples and brief case-studies will follow, with a view to illustrating the points being made.
In the first part a succinct overview of Portuguese anthologies and collections comprising translations of Polish literary and non-literary texts will be presented. Special attention will be paid to Portuguese book series which include translations of Polish texts labelled as social and human science. Subsequently, the Portuguese publishers’ strategies towards translations from Polish language will be investigated. Drawing comparison between various lists of titles published in book series, along with evidence from archives and interviews with translators and publishers, will offer an empirical basis for the analysis.
In the second part the process of selecting particular Polish texts and authors will be carefully investigated, while taking into account the constraints and the specific economic, political and cultural stakes that determine their import and reception. At this point, special consideration will be given to the role of anthologies and collections in, on the one hand, canonization of such Polish authors as Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ryszard Kapuściński and Stanisław Lem and, on the other, legitimization of Polish writers sent into exile or absent, at some point, from the official literary circulation in the Polish source culture (such as Czesław Miłosz, Sławomir Mrożek or Andrzej Szczypiorski).