Foregrounding through Tense/Aspect Morphology in Lyric Poetry – analysis of Osip Mandelstam’s Poem The Wind Brought Us Comfort… and its Polish and English Translations Cover Image

Kategorie czasu i aspektu jako środek nadawania pierwszoplanowości w liryce – analiza oryginału i przekładów wiersza Osipa Mandelsztama Wiatr otuchę w nas tchnął…
Foregrounding through Tense/Aspect Morphology in Lyric Poetry – analysis of Osip Mandelstam’s Poem The Wind Brought Us Comfort… and its Polish and English Translations

Author(s): Józefina Piątkowska-Brzezińska
Subject(s): Translation Studies
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: tense/aspect morphology; lyric poem; foreground; background; Mandelstam

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to show how tense-aspect morphology could be used for discourse-pragmatic purpose of structuring the lyric text. In the poem discussed, switching from PFV past to IPFV present is essential for shifting between foreground and background. The novelty of our approach lies in application of ideas developed within narrative analysis in order to discuss information grounding in lyric poetry. Analysing Polish and English translations of O. Mandelstam’s poem, we will demonstrate how saving temporal structure of the original text can become an important criteria in judging the adequacy of poetic translation.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 37
  • Page Range: 83-98
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish