Polski XVI-wieczny przekład poradnika Piotra Krescencjusza jako świadectwo przenikania kultur

Abstract

This article focuses on explanatory comments provided by the author and highlighted in the text which appear in the second edition of the Polish translation of the guidebook by Peter Crescentius (1571). The aim of the analysis is their description, reference to the Latin original and the analysis of how these comments were used to adapt and make the reader acquainted with foreign reality. The author of the article attempted to classify their types and functions. The material is analysed with the use of linguistic and historical-comparative methods. The cross-cultural diffusion, emphasised in the title of the article, may be observed in a variety of aspects. The 16th century translation, adapted to the Polish reality and transmitting the knowledge and opinions of many authors, constitutes a medium of information about the world as well as the source to become acquainted with foreign customs and names. What becomes visible in the analysed examples is the identity of the Polish author of the translation, who uses various forms in the first person (pronouns, verbs), compares foreign cultures and customs with the Polish culture and customs, the participant and creator of which he sees himself. The analysed material – as in any specialist text – plays mainly an informative role, explains the text, sometimes provides a wider context; it is also a kind of a linguistic and thematic lexicon that familiarises the reader with the customs and cultures of other nations. It may be noticed that the associations with the Latin original text are hard to observe, which results from a relatively free translation of the text and from using various translations of the text. Nevertheless, it does not restrict the translator’s creativity to assimilate the foreign reality, terms and names and to provide detailed information. Comments and explanations tend to build a bridge between the 13th century original text, created within the Mediterranean culture, and the author of the Polish translation and the reader.

Przedmiotem niniejszego tekstu są występujące w polskim wydaniu poradnika (1571), wyodrębnione graficznie, podane w nawiasach, wyjaśniające uwagi autora. Celem jest ich charakterystyka, odniesienie do łacińskiego pierwowzoru tekstu oraz prześledzenie, jak za ich pomocą starano się adaptować obce realia i zapoznawać z nimi odbiorcę. Poczyniono też porządkującą próbę wyszczególnienia ich rodzajów i funkcji. Omówiony materiał pełni głównie funkcję informacyjną, zarazem objaśnia i tłumaczy tekst, czasem przybliża kontekst kulturowy, jest rodzajem językowego i tematycznego leksykonu, który zapoznaje czytelnika ze zwyczajami i kulturą innych narodów.