Signed: Gombrowicz: “Pupa,” the Western Canon, and the English Translation of "Ferdydurke"

Abstract

The present paper aims at demonstrating how the initial norms adopted by translators, affecting their operational norms, impact the hermeneutic potential and process of canonization of the target text—or, in other words, how the consistency of Gombrowicz’s philosophy as it is expressed in his works in the Polish language transforms when translated into English. Opening with an overview of the canonization of translated literature and canonical authors’ “signature words,” the paper concentrates on one of landmark Gombrowicz’s terms, the word pupa, and its function in the immanent poetics of the philosopher’s work and in his global vision of the human condition. Against such a backdrop, an analysis of the consequences of the English translator’s choice concerning this term is provided, simultaneously revealing the importance of “signature words” in the process of canonization of a translated text.