Abstract

Roald Dahl is not only a storyteller and a classic of post-war literature for the youngest, whose works have been repeatedly translated into Polish as well, but also a master of linguistic creativity, which manifested itself most fully in the language used by the main character of the novel The BFG (1982). The novelty of the BFG’s idiolect consists, among other things, in neologising, creating specific word combinations, and using puns. Dahl’s individualisms (Dahlisms?), on which the humor of the entire novel is based, constitute one of the most significant translation problems for  translators of Dahl’s works and at the same time allow us to raise the question of non-translatability caused by the divergence of linguistic systems and culturally ingrained reading associations. The purpose of this article is to analyse two Polish translations of The BFG, which until recently were the extreme links in the Polish translation series of Dahl’s novel: the translation by Michał Kłobukowski titled Wielkomilud (1991) and the translation by Katarzyna Szczepańska-Kowalczuk titled BFG (2016). Thanks to this approach, based on the research on the functioning of neologisms in Polish language and the study of the issues of translation of linguistic innovations – also in children’s literature – it will become possible to trace the development of translation norms and to create a characterisation of translation strategies in this field, which may include such elements as domestication, derivation, homonymy, homophony. The ambition of the paper is also to initiate a discussion of Polish translations of Dahl’s novels, which, although made by recognised translators and existing in translation series, have not yet received a broader study in the field of translation studies of children’s literature.

Received: 29.12.2022
Accepted: 19.06.2023