On the Life and Work of Zofia Ernst Cover Image

On the Life and Work of Zofia Ernst
On the Life and Work of Zofia Ernst

Author(s): Katarzyna Biernacka-Licznar
Contributor(s): Aleksandra Kamińska (Translator)
Subject(s): Other Language Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Translation Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Zofia Ernst; literary translation; ethnographic approach; qualitative interview; Nasza Ksiegarnia;

Summary/Abstract: My aim in this article is to present the life and work of Zofia Ernst, nee Kostanecka (1918– 1994), a connoisseur of Italian culture and literature and an accomplished translator of Italian books for adults and children. In my argument, I draw on the ethnographic approach, using a common ethnographic tool: the qualitative interview (structured interview) to address important moments and events in Ernst’s life. The focus on the life-story of one translator will help me depict the environment she lived and worked in as well as identify her embedment in particular familial and professional settings which crucially affected her work. I will also discuss Ernst’s formative contribution to the image of Italian literature in Poland in the years 1953–1979, i.e. in the period of her translation activity.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: Sp. Iss.
  • Page Range: 93-106
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English