Recording an Oral Message. Jerzy Ficowski and Papusza’s Poetic Project in the Postcolonial Perspective
Recording an Oral Message. Jerzy Ficowski and Papusza’s Poetic Project in the Postcolonial Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes Jerzy Ficowski’s translations of poems by Papusza—a Romani poet who was “discovered” by the author of Demons of Somebody Else’s Fears for the non-Romani reading audience in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The comparison of literal and poetical translations leads to the following conclusions: Ficowski’s translation consistently blurred the oral characteristics of this poetry, gave it a more dialectal character and eliminated some of its content linked to the Romani culture. The research methodology is based on the latest translation theories and postcolonial studies, which allows the author to extend the reflection to comprise other types of contexts, namely: biographical (Papusza’s and Ficowski’s meeting and its memory), social (the communist program of: “productiveness” and its impact on Papusza’s career), and anthropological (the consequences of the alleged “betrayal the secrets of Roma” by Papusza, and Ficowski’s ethical responsibility as anthropologist).

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