Academic Journal of Modern Philology

doi: 10.34616/ajmp.2024.22.13

ISSN 2299–7164

Vol. 22 (2024)

Open Access. Published by Committee for Philology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław Branch and College for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Wrocław. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Magdalena Jurewicz

Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań,

Institute for Applied Linguistics

magdalen@amu.edu.pl

ORCID: 0000-0003-0762-6017

Art Communication and the Museum. Prerequisites of Art Translation Didactics

Abstract

In order to draw attention to the linguistic context concerning fine arts, this paper presents a didactic approach to translation difficulties concerning the reconstruction of the real meaning of interlingual lacunae (gaps), understood as lexical units present in one culture and absent in another, using the example of ambiguous Polish terms referring to a painting style present in albums or museum guides. Based on the model of reconstructing the actual meaning, selected terms related to the existence of the so-called Munich School are shown, which, if not identified correctly, can lead to a trivial interpretation of a given work of art by the audience in the target culture. Language and linguistic actions are essential for the description of works of art, their meaning and cultural-historical references, which is also linguistically manifested in established text types and genres. The reception of art is essentially through two channels: visual and verbal. Observers can identify the content of the work through their own cultural filters, including human universals. The presence of verbal comments can enrich a better and deeper understanding of its meaning. People have been describing the meaning of art verbally since they encountered artefacts rooted in other cultures, but the branch of linguistics dealing with the relationship between language and visual art is very young and consequently little researched. The same applies to the topic of translation in the field of art communication and museums, which is relatively new. The results of the analysis presented this paper can be used by university translation didacticians and by translators to find adequate equivalents in the field of translation in the field of painting history.

Keywords: regional city museums, advertisements of exhibitions, unambiguous painting style terminology, challenges for translators, “Munich School” of painting

0. Introduction

Linguistic activity is essential for describing works of art, the techniques used to create paintings or sculptures, the significance of a particular work of art for a country’s culture, and the historical references and connotations of the themes depicted in a work of art. Statements about works of art are realised by means of established textual genres, such as guided tours of museums, descriptions in albums devoted to the paintings of a particular era, or art criticism texts (cf. Spieß 2018: 370). The branch of linguistics dealing with the relationship between language and the field of fine arts is relatively young, although it has recently received increasing attention in Germany, as a result of several projects (such as a textbook developed by Hausendorf and Müller in 2016) and various analyses of individual elements of communication and the function of linguistic phenomena within artistic communication (cf. Roll and Spieß 2013; Müller and Kluwe 2012; Hausendorf and Müller 2016). Interdisciplinary questions and individual approaches to the subject of study also play an important role in this research (cf. Müller and Kluwe 2012; Hausendorf and Müller 2016). For example, the aforementioned textbook on arts communication provides an overview of the key topics and research in this area, partly from a linguistic perspective (cf. Spieß 2018: 371). In that publication, authors from the fields of conversation studies, text and discourse linguistics, rhetoric and stylistics, sociology, didactics, art criticism, art pedagogy, art therapy, art history, and art theory present up-to-date knowledge concerning linguistic reflection in the aforementioned areas. What is missing from that comprehensive publication, however, is a translational perspective.

Two years ago, a publication was produced which attempts to fill this gap. The collection Translation – Kunstkommunikation – Museum / Translation – Art Communication – Museum (2021) contains texts on translation in the field of art and museum communication. This is, as the authors themselves indicate, a relatively new and under-researched area in the field of translation studies. In that collection, experts from various fields present their own perspectives on this transdisciplinary area and thus explain the special features, conditions and requirements of translation in a scientific and practical context. For example, an article by Antonia Lagemann considers translation in the field of exhibitions, using the example of the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main (cf. Ahrens et al. 2021: 137–153). In the Polish literature on art communication, one can find articles dealing with art as a form of communication in the visual sphere, but there is a lack of linguistic and translational approaches to the topic of language as a tool for describing and discussing art (cf. Sztabiński 2003; Juszkiewicz [DWed 1 Mar 2023], among others).

To draw attention to the linguistic context concerning fine arts, this article presents some challenges faced by the translators of popular science texts available in Polish city museums, working in the Polish–German language pair. Using the example of expressions relating to the characteristics of the painting style of representatives of the so-called Munich School, as well as ambiguous descriptions of works by painters of that school, a demonstration is given of the interlingual1 or even intercultural lacunae which hinder, among other things, the creation of monographs on the painting of the Munich School in German. Using specific examples of certain elements characteristic of Polish culture but less known in German culture, appearing in paintings and/or in text describing them, the model of the analysis of interlingual lacunae according to Miłosz-Szewczyk (2022) will be discussed in the context of its usefulness for the analysis of texts accompanying works of art. For the purposes of this article, the model additionally takes into account the visual aspect that is indispensable in the interpretation of works of art. We propose to replace the notion of interlingual lacunae with intercultural lacunae2 when interpreting the visual side of a painting, as paintings are also carriers of non-verbal content.

1. Intercultural Lacunae in Fine Arts Communication

The concept of interlingual lacunae refers to differences in meaning that become apparent only at the moment of intercultural contact (cf. Panasiuk and Schröder 2006: 14). Lacunae hinder the reception of the text in the foreign language, and can lead to both communicative distortions and intercultural misunderstandings (Freihoff 2001: 219–220). As lexical units, interlingual gaps do not have single-word equivalents in the target culture, which makes them problematic in the translation process. Ertelt-Vieth (2006: 66) defines lacunae as meaning gaps (Bedeutungslakunen, 2004: 84) and considers their analysis in terms of discovery, representation, and explanation. Discovery involves revealing cultural differences, which are understood as interlingual gaps. Ertelt-Vieth (2006: 54) proposes explanation of these gaps, that is, the formulation of a statement concerning their current meaning. Current meaning, also referred to as contextual, textual or pragmatic meaning, is the meaning of a lexeme in use, in a specific communicative situation, and “(...) is therefore attributed to a particular textual realisation of a given lexeme” (Markowski 2012: 43). The context determines the actual meaning. What is missing from the definitions of lacunae quoted above, however, is the extent to which a given collocation or individual word must be recognisable in the original culture as a phraseological expression, or whether, for example, instances of pun can also be counted among these lacunae. In this article we propose a broad understanding of the concept.

In the model of reconstruction of the current meaning of interlingual lacunae according to Miłosz-Szewczyk (2022: 99), it is the reading of the text from the position of the naïve foreign-language reader3 that comes to the fore, followed by a description of the context, the identification of the theme of the plot and the discourse plane in which the lacuna in question occurs in the foreign language, which serves in further steps to classify the lacuna as a key word, to reconstruct its current meaning, and optionally to compare its lexical meaning with the current meaning. The Miłosz-Szewczyk model can be applied not only to the situation of reading a foreign-language text. In the case of specialised or popular science texts in which specialised terminology appears, a translator, even one from the culture of the original language, is often confronted with unfamiliar terms, and thus acts in the role of a lay person. This can lead to a misreading of the term in question, or to a failure to recognise that it is a professional or jargon term used in the relevant field, often having no equivalent in the foreign language. Such issues arise when translating albums on the subject of painting. This requires additional specialist knowledge on the part of the linguist, as well as consideration of the painting depicted, and therefore it becomes necessary for our purposes to supplement the Miłosz-Szewczyk model with observation of a given work of art and to include observation in its description.

When translating texts from the field of fine arts, it is therefore necessary to ask ourselves some additional questions. For this purpose, we will refer to the catalogue of issues formulated by Ballstedt (2011: 428) with regard to the visual sphere in the translation of technical documentation and advertising, adapting it to the field of fine arts4.

1) To what extent can verbal communication (e.g. in the form of descriptions of a painting) facilitate the understanding of images?

2) Are there limitations to visual communication? Research by Grotstabel et al. (2003) has indicated that abstract concepts and arguments are difficult to convey in paintings. Therefore, only in the case of simple content and actions is the interpretation of the image not a problem; with more complex content, text and image are indispensable if we want to interpret the painter’s intention correctly – for example, descriptions of historical paintings require a thorough knowledge of the eras depicted.

3) How can the intelligibility of the paintings be assessed? In the case of text comprehensibility, many linguistic indicators have been found at word, sentence and text level that contribute to comprehension. In the case of images, the situation is more complicated and the research is less convincing.

4) Are images really cross-culturally intelligible? Do cultural factors condition the understanding of images? Do we need intercultural competence in visual communication? There has been research on this topic since the 1960s, but a systematic, theoretical and empirical approach has emerged only in recent years under the influence of globalisation. Today, it is believed that the recognition of objects, people and scenes in images does not generally cause difficulties in any culture, subject to two conditions: Firstly, the observer must have knowledge of the culture in which the work was created. Secondly, the images must not deviate from everyday perception, for example through unusual perspectives, colours or illustration styles (cf. Spaulding 1956; Twyman 1985). Difficulties in understanding arise when images are interpreted because cultural cognitive styles, conventions and mentalities play an important role. As in the translation of written texts, a representative of the target culture should be involved in the description of paintings, in order to avoid confusion in communication.

Although the lack of a description of the work does not prevent its reception, a description may supplement that reception or identify the reality being presented in accordance with the intention of the sender, here the painter. Misunderstanding of the title of a painting may impoverish the message or distort it completely, but still does not completely deprive the observer of an aesthetic experience. Hence, there is probably little interest on the part of the authors of studies in published albums in conscientiously translating, or rather explaining, the titles of paintings

Thus, it should be assumed that the fact that the recipient of a work of art belongs to the target culture of the translation may hinder its reception if it is strongly associated with a certain initial culture. This is the case, for example, with works by Polish representatives of the so-called Munich School.

2. The “Munich School”5

In the history of painting, the term “Munich School” refers to a group of painters who worked in Munich from the first half of the 19th century until 1914. The art historian Frank Büttner writes that the school had already developed in the early 19th century thanks to the initiative of King Ludwig I (Büttner 2006: 215; compare also Raczynski 1836/41/1992: 44–60, after Büttner 2006: 216). Roman Musil, director of the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, lists the characteristics and means of expression typical of the painters of the “Munich School”:

They worked with darker colours, used dark brown tones and very high light contrasts. (...) This gives Munich painting its character and distinguishes it from the so-called lightened palette of Parisian art. (https://www.radio.cz/de/rubrik/kultur/muenchner-kunst-leuchtet-in-pilsen. [DWed 15 Apr 2019])

The Polish artists living in Munich did not form a specific artistic group. They came to Munich for longer or shorter studies. Those who gained recognition stayed in the city for many years; others visited Munich only during exhibitions. What distinguished them from other foreign artists (such as those from the Czech lands) was above all their programmatically different subject matter, closely related to Poland: national poetry and historical events, Polish landscapes, costumes, etc. In the beginning, the romantic trend was particularly strong, as can be seen in paintings with historical themes, mainly depicting various skirmishes. In later years, the Realists, whose domain was genre scenes and landscapes, prevailed. They were characterised by comprehensive realism, atmospherism (“moodiness”) and subdued colours, dominated by browns and greys (the so-called “Munich sauces”). Paintings by Polish artists of the Munich School are still valued by connoisseurs and are eagerly purchased6. The so-called “Polish landscapes” are particularly popular.

The most prominent representative of the Munich School was Józef Brandt, whose learners included Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski (1849–1915). Brandt, Wierusz-Kowalski and Władysław Czachórski were at the heart of the Polish art scene, opening their homes to newcomers and supplying them with Polish “props” from the numerous holdings of their studios. Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski remained in Munich and received the title of an honorary professor of the Academy in 1890. The “Polish colony” also included, among others, Maksymilian Gierymski, Jan Chełmiński, Juliusz Kossak, Władysław Szerner, Antoni Kozakiewicz, and many other outstanding Polish painters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

On the website of the District Museum in Suwałki (81 T. Kościuszki St., 16–400 Suwałki) one can find announcements of many exhibitions devoted to Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, who was born in Suwałki and is regarded as one of the town’s most eminent figures. One of these is a permanent exhibition titled “Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski 1849–1915”. Wierusz-Kowalski’s paintings were and still are highly sought after, especially his generic horse scenes. His wedding processions, with colourful Polish costumes and speeding carts with young, smiling people, are full of joy and affirmation of life, impressive in their colours and suggestive of carefree movement. Wierusz-Kowalski also painted winter hunting scenes and snow-covered winter landscapes with menacing silhouettes of wolves attacking travellers.

The museum also has a number of publications telling the story of the group of Polish painters in Munich, as well as some devoted exclusively to Wierusz-Kowalski. One of the latter (Ptaszyńska 2021) is written in two languages, Polish and English7.

3. Fine Arts Terminology in the Context of Translation

3.1.

As the first example of the reconstruction of the meaning of interlingual lacunae related to the achievements of Polish painters in Munich, we will analyse, in accordance with the Miłosz-Szewczyk model as modified for the purposes of this article, the term “Munich sauces”, used in Poland to refer to the colouring of paintings of the Munich School. The first step in this approach is to read the text from the position of a naïve reader, in our case a translator unfamiliar with painting terminology. On Polish websites, we find 1,490 results for this term referring to the painting style of the Munich School, for example, “Colour. “Munich sauces” and divisionism” (DWed 3 Jun 2019).

In the next stage, according to the Miłosz-Szewczyk model, it is important to identify the lacunae and then verify them by comparing existing dictionary definitions for the language pair of interest with those used in the text in question. In the case of terms relating to the use of colours (such as the “Munich sauces” discussed here) and motifs, this is possible without having to take the images into account, although undoubtedly the images shown on museum websites and in albums give an idea of why the colours of the paintings are compared to sauce: dark, brown tones dominate, as mentioned above, and such tones also characterise sauces in the culinary field. When describing the discursive context of the term and identifying its subject in the given discourse fragment (in accordance with the Miłosz-Szewczyk model), it should be noted that the term “Munich sauces” in Polish serves as a pejorative term for colours of the paintings created by painters associated with the Munich centre. This is due to the brown and greyish-yellow colours that are often repeated in these paintings. “Munich sauces” are perceived as something old-fashioned and dark when compared with the colour scheme of the Impressionists. The pejorativity of the term may also have to do with Polish history: the “Munich School” existed at the time of the Partitions of Poland, and although Bavaria was not among the partitioning powers, the broader connection with German-speaking Prussia influenced the perception in Poland of art created in the German lands.

On Polish websites we also find culinary associations with the adjective “Munich” and the noun “sauce”, but they do not appear as a collocation and the adjective does not appear directly adjacent to the noun. On German websites, direct collocations are not found for a literal translation of the term, and in the culinary field we find, for example, Münchner-Kindl (401,000 results), where the irreducible adjective Münchner (“Munich”) and the noun Soßen (“sauces”) appear, but not as the idiomatic expression Münchner Soßen in the pejorative sense in which this expression is used in Poland. In light of the definitions presented, it can be concluded that the collocation sosy monachijskie in Polish is strongly stigmatising. Thus, in reconstructing the current meaning of the term “Munich sauces” in art texts, one must conclude that it is a pejorative stigmatising term for the colouring of paintings of the so-called Munich School, which has no equivalent in German. In the German text accompanying the exhibition catalogues, the term “Munich sauces” must therefore be presented using the methods available to the translator (for example, as a quotation in inverted commas with a footnote also explaining its pejorative meaning).

However, the expression “Munich sauces” also appears in literary works as an integral part of the text, for example in Mark Kochan’s (2007) book Playground. In the case of a literary translation of this text into German, the method of borrowing with an explanatory footnote breaks up the linearity of the text, and the borrowing may mislead the German reader, leading them to make culinary associations, for example. Here we have an interesting case: in the source language we find a term containing an exonym from the target language area, but it has no corresponding term in the target language. The pejorative term Soße (sauce as something thick, brown), without a painting-related context, may not always be clearly understood even in Poland. Nevertheless, the term “Munich sauces” is used by Polish art historians. In the case of a literary allusion, German readers should be offered the loanword with an explanatory footnote, in order to render the passage of text with its ironic meaning, alluding to the history of painting.

3.2.

Intercultural lacunae in the form of language games not recognised by translators can also be illustrated by the following examples of translations of picture titles. In the German albums devoted to the Polish representatives of the “Munich School” (Fałtynowicz/Ptaszyńska 2005), we find places where the translators either failed to take into account the content of the painting described or failed to understand the ironic overtones of the painting’s title. Beneath one of the paintings by Antoni Kozakiewicz, which immortalises a villager surrounded by rabbits, sitting in front of an old house, we find the title Maciej król nad króle (Fałtynowicz/Ptaszyńska 2005: 48). The German translation of the title reads Maciej König der Könige. The German reader must be confused at this point: what does the old villager in the painting have to do with Jesus Christ? The pun (Polish król(ik), plural króle, also being a term for rabbits, especially in the plural) has not been rendered in the translation, which may lead to a complete misunderstanding of the painting’s title.

Other examples of ignoring intercultural lacunae can be found in the case of the loan of the names Protazy and Gerwazy Rębajło (Fałtynowicz/Ptaszyńska 2005: 49) in the German titles of paintings by Antoni Kozakiewicz that appear in the album. For most Poles, Protazy and Gerwazy are immediately recognisable, as these are the names of the protagonists of Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz, which is well-known to all Poles. German readers, who are not at all familiar with these names, are given no explanation, and consequently may not even be able to interpret these nouns as proper names.

On the other hand the title Budrys z Laszką by Juliusz Kossak, given in the German version as Budrys mit Laszka (ibid.), may the German reader interpret as containing proper names. Although German Wikipedia lists “Lachen” as a term for old Poles, it will be difficult to make a connection with the feminine variant “Laszka”. Meanwhile, the Polish term “budrys” (used jokingly about Lithuanians) – not to mention its connotations with Adam Mickiewicz’s Three Budrys – will be unfamiliar to the average German reader. There is in fact a translation of Mickiewicz’s work by Carl von Blankensee in which the terms “Budris” and “Lachin” are used (https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=20846 [DWed 30 Aug 2023]); however, even if the title of the painting in the German version of the album were given as Budris mit Lachin, it would still probably require an extended explanation in a footnote.

3.3.

When analysing works on Polish paintings written in German, it is also possible to find cases of failure to recognise the cultural meanings of works. Thus, we are not dealing here directly with the mistranslation of a given term (e.g. Trilogy), but with a downgrading of the significance of the literary works to which the painting in question refers. We will discuss this issue with reference to a very valuable work by Hans-Peter Bühler (1993) (mentioned in footnote 6), one of the few German art historians to explain professionally to German readers the complex history of Poland, without which an understanding of the paintings of the Polish Munich painters, whose works repeatedly referred to events from Polish history, would not be possible. However, even such a seasoned art history expert sometimes fails to recognise the connotations of a term. For example, to explain to the German reader the specific features of Polish history painting, characteristic of the Polish Munich School, Bühler uses interesting associations when describing historical paintings: in writing about Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Trilogy, he compares it to the works of Karol May (Winnetou) (Bühler 1993:40), emphasising the adventure themes of the Trilogy and ignoring the national and religious meaning of that series of novels. He consistently compares the wings of the hussars to the plumes of native Americans. This juxtaposition is very peculiar to a Pole reading these comparisons in German:

Zwar nicht bildbestimmend, jedoch als farbenprächtiger Blickfang, zeigen sich die berühmten polnischen Lanzenreiter in ihren Eisenpanzern mit hohem, indianisch wirkenden Federschmuck. (Bühler 1993: 36). [Although they do not dominate the picture, the famous Polish lancers are a colourful eye-catcher in their iron armour with high, Indian-style feather decorations.]

Such a comparison may lead, through the lack of an attempt to explain the intercultural connotation of the lacuna, to a pejorative interpretation of the Polish images by German readers. The intercultural lacuna relates in this situation to the connotations of the recipients of the work in the initial and target cultures: for a Pole, the hussars are a source of pride, having been the Polish army’s flagship military formation in the 17th century; for a recipient in the German target culture, they may appear to be a formation similar to native American troops8. In such a situation, there is no need at all to explain to the readers what the plumes resemble, since they can be seen in the image anyway. So the most effective translation strategy in this situation is loanword. The task of translating Bühler’s album into Polish can be also extremely cumbersome9, precisely because of the failure to recognise the cultural significance of certain terms.

4. Summary

It can be stated unequivocally that there exist interlingual and intercultural lacunae with respect to the painting style of the Munich School and the description of the works of Polish painters of the 19th century, which can make it difficult for translators of exhibition catalogues and fiction to find adequate translation solutions. German and Polish art historians should not be forgotten either, as without translations of significant works of the period they will not be able to interpret and describe specific works correctly.

The analysis presented here of art terms, focused on the current meaning of intercultural lacunae, can be used by translators to find suitable equivalents and to better understand foreign cultural realities. Moreover, lexicographers can use the current meanings associated with lacunae (appropriately formulated) to expand, supplement, update or even correct dictionary definitions to reflect their linguistic and cultural specificity. Lacunae also show potential for contrastive discourse analysis. It is possible to compare vocabulary in the parallel, thematically homogeneous discourses of two linguistic and discursive communities in order to search for lacuna equivalents in the target language in parallel cultural texts. Contextual considerations play an important role in the translational approach, as they determine the choice of an equivalent and indeed the extent to which the sense conveyed by the translation unit can be reproduced. Out of the many competing forms, the one that exhibits the correspondence of the largest number of parameters among those taken into account in the analysis of the original is chosen as the representation of the lacunar word (cf. Szerszunowicz 2015: 648).

The model for the reinterpretation of the meaning of lacunae by Miłosz-Szewczyk, extended in the present article with elements of image analysis, can serve as a way of analysing art-related texts in translation classes for linguistics students. The didactic potential of this kind of analysis lies not only in the possibility of illustrating the notion of lacunarity, but also in introducing students to a broader spectrum of Polish culture, which includes the fine arts in addition to writing traditions. Furthermore, the students themselves can thus be encouraged to take an interest in regional painting or sculpture, not always well known to a wide audience.

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Netography

http://muzeum.suwalki.pl/zwiedzanie/ [date of access: 15 May 2019]

https://www.radio.cz/de/rubrik/kultur/muenchner-kunst-leuchtet-in-pilsen [date of access: 15 April 2019)]

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https://www.radio.cz/de/rubrik/kultur/muenchner-kunst-leuchtet-in-pilsen [date of access: 15 April 2019)].

1 The concept of linguistic lacunae is one means of describing the challenges faced by a translator when there is a gap in the linguistic system of the target language, also referred to by translation theorists as, for example, null equivalence (cf. Kade) or denotative null equivalence (Koller). The notion of lacuna was chosen for analysis here because of its location not in the single specific text undergoing the translation process, but in the entire discourse on the topic in question.

2 Szerszunowicz (2015) writes about intercultural gaps (lacunae) in the context of the lack of a relevant cultural element named in the target culture in the output language. Quoting Dagut (1981), he writes that two basic types of gaps are distinguished: linguistic and cultural. Linguistic gaps occur when a given concept realised by means of a lexical unit cannot be expressed in the target language by means of an expression, although the meaning is known in the target culture. We speak of cultural gaps in the case of words naming phenomena, objects, customs, etc. embedded in the source culture, and thus conveying meanings that must be explicated in the target language because they are not known to users from the target culture (cf. Szerszunowicz 2015: 633–634).

3 It seems appropriate here to clarify what is meant by naïve reader: a person who has mastered a foreign language sufficiently to be able to tell that an expression may be a lacuna, in our opinion, cannot be considered a naïve reader.

4 The questions below may also refer to: multimodal translation: visual content to verbal content in any language, e.g. audio-visual translation as for the blind. It can be multilingual also be intracultural translation that is explaining the meaning of the masterpieces to the members of the same culture.

5 At this point I would like to thank Ms. Eliza Ptaszyńska, curator of the Suwałki District Museum, for any substantive comments on the paintings of the Munich School.

6 Among others, an album by Hans-Peter Bühler was published in 1993 under the title Jäger, Kosaken und polnische Reiter: Josef von Brandt, Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski und Franz Roubaud und der Münchner Polenkreis. This publication met the needs of the art market at the time, which showed great interest in the works of painters who worked in Munich and are better known abroad than in Poland. Beautiful illustrations of the paintings, often sourced from private collections and presented only at auctions, allow us to understand the incredible popularity of the originals.

7 Unfortunately, there are very few studies in German, and those that are available (e.g. Fałtynowicz/Ptaszyńska 2005) contain shortcomings because art historians translating into German are not always aware of the challenges facing the translator. Translators working on texts about exhibitions dedicated to the Munich School at the Arsenal in Zamość (near Józef Brandt’s birthplace in Szczebrzeszyn, Brandt also lived in Orońsko, it is worth visiting his palace and museum) also face similar challenges.

8 Another example of the same author’s lack of care in describing images is the description of a Cossack boat on the Dnieper river, the so-called czajka. Here the translator uses borrowing with a Germanised spelling of the term (Tschaika). The author of the study notes that czajka is also the name of a bird (“lapwing”), although he mistakenly translates it as Möve, not Kibitz (ibid.). However, czajka in the sense of a boat is probably not derived from the name of the bird; Stanislaw Sarnicki wrote that it comes from the verb czaić się (“to lurk”) (in rushes, for example), and Dmitry Yavornitsky in turn reported that the name comes from the Tatar noun kaik (chaik) meaning “round boat” (cf. Gorski 2003: 111–112).

9 The translator of Bühler’s position into Polish, Tomasz Kozłowski (1997), struggled with this type of dilemma. A discussion of his translation solutions, however, would require a separate article. Cognitive science studies have shown that translators are influenced by various aspects that have tended to be excluded from previous cognitive-centred research approaches – including emotion (cf. Risku 2005: 63). Being able to assess and communicate or transfer one’s own emotions and those of other people is a central component of intercultural communication (cf. Hubscher-Davidson 2013: 332–333). Emotions are therefore a part of the translation process that cannot be excluded, which is used by translators as a matter of course, but still does not receive enough attention in translation studies discourse and studies (cf. Steyskal 2017: 30–31). Steyskal coined the term emorational to dissolve the dichotomisation of cognition vs. emotion and to give new perspective to the powerful unity of the two major domains in the translation process, which also abolishes this habit of contrasting at the word level and cements the two areas in an indissoluble liaison. The fusion of cognition and emotion in translation is corroborated and stabilised by the researcher with the obvious nominal neologism emorationality. Translators cannot transfer anything if they do not understand it, so translation is dependent on empathy and empathy in turn is the fusion of emotion and cognition. Nevertheless, a demarcation between oneself and the other person is required in order to achieve understanding. Empathy also makes it possible to visualise the inner life of another person by means of one’s own representations, which, however, do not represent the actual feelings of the other person, but merely an individual, emotional reaction (cf. Steyskal 2017: 23ff).

Received:

10.04.2024

Reviewed:

30.06.2024

Accepted:

16.09.2024