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Witkacy by Total Immersion: On the Translation Methods of Daniel Charles Gerould

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses the achievement of Daniel Charles Gerould, one of the world’s most renowned “Witkacologists” and the best known translator of Witkacy’s works into English. Gerould’s devotion to the Polish playwright spanned more than half a century: from his early encounter with Witkacy’s oeuvre in the mid-1950s until his death in February 2012. Gerould translated almost all of Witkacy’s plays as well as fragments of his novels, theoretical and philosophical treatises, letters to Bronisław Malinowski and Rules of the S.I. Witkiewicz Portrait Painting Firm. He was also instrumental in bringing Witkacy’s dramas onto the Anglophone stage and making the Polish artist recognized worldwide not only as a pioneer of the Théâtre de l’Absurde but also as one of the first postmodern playwrights. The article examines examples selected from Gerould’s numerous translations in order to prove that his translation method was that of “total immersion” in Witkacy’s art and life. Thanks to the intimate relationship he had developed with his favourite artist (as he confessed in his memoirs, he saw Witkacy as his “twin” or “double”), Gerould was able to make his renderings of Witkacy’s texts almost transparent, without a trace of the translator’s idiosyncratic intrusions. Exceptionally faithful and composed with a perfect ear for stage dialogue, Gerould’s translations capture Witkacy’s vivid style and unique sense of humour. They are also published with the utmost editorial care, complete with exemplary critical commentaries, so that recipients of these texts – regular readers, actors, directors, students or literary critics – can also immerse themselves in the curious worlds conjured up by Witkacy.

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