Problem spójności tekstu w staropolskim przekładzie tragedii. Stanisław Morsztyn i „Andromacha” z Racine’a
The Problem of Text Coherence in the Old Polish Translation of Stanisław Morsztyn’s “Andromacha”

Summary/Abstract: “Andromacha” by Stanisław Morsztyn is the first Polish translation of the tragedy by Jean Racine, which dates back to the 1690s. The study describes a clash of two artistic strategies present in the text: the first strategy aims at highlighting the whole tragedy outlined by the translator while the second one emphasizes smaller text units. The first part of the text concerns Morsztyn’s application of intertextual strategies. The translator aptly interprets Racine’s references to ancient literature and adds some of his own (he quotes, for example, verses 63–64 from the second “Heroid” by Ovid – omitted by the author in his rendering of this fragment in verses 455–462). Within the scope of Polish literature, he introduces references to the works of Jan Kochanowski (“Songs,” I 17) and Łukasz Górnicki (“Troas,” II 281–282, 515–516) among many others. Moreover, Morsztyn imparts a dramatic sense to intertextual references, which is in accordance with the strategy employed in the original text. The second part of the text is devoted to the translator’s use of rhetorical devices. One may note here the reinforcement of a logical and ethical dimension of the character’s dialogues, which sometimes takes place at the cost of pathetic dimension (omission of syntactic disorders as a marker of strong emotions). The last part addresses the problem of dramatic insertion of oratorical and lyrical passages, such as tirades and monologues. A slight tendency to emphasize the autonomy of declamatory parts is noticeable – at the cost of organic unity of the drama. In the whole of the translation, one may identify moments of the translator’s weakening control over tragedy structure looked at as a whole. However, this can be regarded as internally conditioned by the literary system of classicism.

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