THE HYPERGENERIC SPECTRUM OF GRAVITY’S RAINBOW BY THOMAS PYNCHON IN POLISH TRANSLATION Cover Image

HIPERGENERYCZNE SPEKTRUM TĘCZY GRAWITACJI THOMASA PYNCHONA W PRZEKŁADZIE NA JĘZYK POLSKI
THE HYPERGENERIC SPECTRUM OF GRAVITY’S RAINBOW BY THOMAS PYNCHON IN POLISH TRANSLATION

Author(s): Łukasz Barciński
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Structuralism and Post-Structuralism, Translation Studies, American Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: quasi-transcendental; mixed genre; the fold; interface; Thomas Pynchon; postmodernism;

Summary/Abstract: The study deals with the issue of genre in translation with reference to the Polish rendition of Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Upon analysing the hypergeneric and heteroglottic aspect of the novel, by enumerating the possible classifications of the novel’s genre and facets of language variety, the study offers a new perspective on genre classification from the vantage point of Jacques Derrida’s philosophy, namely by the introduction of the term quasi-transcendental as the name of a superordinate genre, which could include not only Pynchon’s but also Derrida’s works. The recreation of a genre defined in this way in the act of translation consists in determining the pivotal elements in the text, which activate the process of signification concerning chains of binarities in Gravity’s Rainbow, i.e. the motifs of “interface” and “linearity” (related to the motif of “fold”, which could also become a diagrammatic model for the whole quasitranscendental genre). Finally, the study offers conclusions as to the theory and practice of translation of higher-order genres such as the one posited herein.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 40
  • Page Range: 240-259
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish