Styles of Communication (Jun 2017)
The Fuss about the Pooh On Two Polish Translations of a Story about a Little Bear
Abstract
Winnie-the-Pooh, a literary work published by Alan Alexander Milne in 1926, has been appreciated by readers worldwide for nearly a century. The story about a little bear and his companions, it originally conquered the hearts of readers in the book version, then became one of Disney’s best adaptations, one that has never been forgotten by its audience. Thanks to its many translations, Winnie-the-Pooh has become known all around the world. The story is rather difficult to translate, for Milne demonstrated great creativity in naming his characters and various places. The text contains many ambiguous expressions, and the majority of the dialogues are characterized by the presence of many intentional language errors made with the aim of amusing the reader. Various neologisms, metaplasms and onomatopoeias serve as names of characters. The name of the eponymous bear, “Winnie-the-Pooh,” serves as a good example of the difficulty of translation, for Winnie, a diminutive form of Winifred, is a female name, whereas the bear is male. The Pooh part has also caused many problems for numerous translators. There are two Polish translations of the story. In 1938 Irena Tuwim published a translation entitled Kubuś Puchatek that Polish readers immediately fell in love with. In 1986 Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska published her translation of the story, Fredzia Phi-Phi. The second translation attracted many negative comments and contemptuous reactions. Many readers disliked Fredzia Phi-Phi, as it was seen as a crime against the excellent first translation – which, however, happened to contain many mistakes and strayed far from the original text. This article deals with an analysis of both Polish translations of selected names and words from Winnie-the-Pooh.
