PRESTIŻ, PERYTEKSTY I HABITUSY POLSKICH TŁUMACZY LITERATURY DZIECIĘCEJ NA PRZEŁOMIE XIX I XX WIEKU
Prestige, Peritexts, and Habitus of Polish Translators of Children’s Literature at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the peritexts of lesser-known Polish translations of children’s books from the turn of the twentieth century, with particular attention to publications signed with the translator’s full name while omitting the author of the original work. The conspicuous visibility of the translator combined with the (secondary) anonymity of the author invites questions concerning the translator’s prestige, their position within the field of cultural production, and the broader implications of contemporary publishing practices. In this study, peritexts are approached as sites in which the habitus of individual agents operating within the field – especially translators – is manifested, while simultaneously being co-produced and transformed. They are also treated as documentary evidence of publishing practices characteristic of the period under investigation. This historical moment requires particular scholarly attention, as it is widely regarded as marking the emergence of modern children’s literature in Poland. The analysis is based on case studies of translations by Władysław Ludwik Anczyc ("Zwierzęta mówiące" ["Talking Animals"], 1873), Maria Gerson-Dąbrowska ("Nasi przyjaciele" ["Our Friends"], 1906; "Burek i jego przyjaciele" ["Burek and His Friends"], 1908), and Maria Buyno-Arctowa ("Mały Tim" ["Little Tim"], 1909). The article demonstrates the analytical usefulness of peritexts in identifying source texts; in the course of the research, the author established the original works underlying Anczyc’s and Gerson-Dąbrowska’s translations.

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