Les quatrièmes de couverture comme lieu d’inscription d’une représentation de la littérature traduite : romans canadiens d’expression française en traduction polonaise (2000-2016)

Abstract

The Back Cover as a Place for Creating an Image of Translated Literature: Polish Translations of French-Canadian Novels (2000-2016) The back cover of a book contains peritext added by the publisher, with a double function of information (about the author and the work) and invitation to read the book. That is why it also becomes the place where publishers decide on a certain image of the books. For this study, we have collected back cover texts from French-Canadian novels which were published in the Polish translation in the years 2000-2016, and we have considered them as a certain image of this literature given to the Polish reader by the publishers. These texts are also a source of information about this literature for the readers. The results of the analysis of the covers of 27 novels published in Poland in the studied period allow us to state that this image is deformed and simplified: it does not reflect the language and regional differences of Canadian literature today. The works themselves belong to such genres as fantasy, thriller or chick lit: they are attractive, pleasant to read, often awarded and adapted for the screen. The “cover image” of the French-Canadian literature given by Polish translations reflects rather the strategy of their publishers: it seems that their choices of translated works are directed mainly by economic prudence.

Keywords

• French-Canadian novel
• Polish translation
• publisher’s peritext
• image of the source-language literature