„Przekładać bez cishetowania” – o dylematach tłumaczy literatury queerowej

Abstract

According to Elżbieta Tabakowska, it is the duty of translators to empathize not only with the authors of the translated texts, but also with their heroes and recipients. This statement is correct especially in the perspective of contemporary cultural and socio-political conditions reflected in the texts of culture, and thus – in translation. It is confirmed by interviews with translators, in which they indicate how important the ongoing social changes are for them, the effects of which they must include in translations, which is not necessarily allowed by the specificity of the Polish language – in other words, they emphasize a certain “lack” in it. This “lack” – or rather sensitivity to its existence – can be considered in the context of tenderness, which is particularly important in the practice of feminist and queer translations, focused on giving voice to those who have been deprived of it for many years. There is also an ideological element here – “tenderness” understood in this way would be conditioned by transferring one’s own perspective into the text – e.g., resulting from the ease of identification of the translator with the characters. The aim of the article is an attempt to indicate why translators want to compensate for this „lack” and how they do it. Contemporary novels are the subject of reflection – The Many Half- Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor, I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters – and the reportage Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and their Polish translations belonging to the so-called queer literature, in which one can observe various ways of showing compassion, giving voice to heroes and narrators by translators, influencing the possibility of self-identification. An important context for my considerations are conversations with translators – Aga Zano and Artur Łuksza.