Twórcy i kopiści tatarskiej literatury religijnej. Wykształcenie, funkcje społeczne, znajomość języków orientalnych i słowiańskich

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to describe the competence of Tatar translators. Hence, it discusses the education system in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and focuses on the sources of knowledge and inspiration for the authors of the 16th-century translation of the Qur’an into Polish, including their knowledge of Oriental languages. Research has led to the conclusion that the author of the Tatar tefsir met the criteria for a good translator because he: – knew the culture of both the source and target languages, i.e. Islam and Christianity, – had expert knowledge of the reality described, i.e. the reality of the Muslim world, – knew both languages – the target one, i.e. Arabic, and the source one, i.e. Polish, – displayed a knowledge of translation theory, – knew the type of text he translated, i.e. the Qur’an, and was capable of creating it in the target language. Moreover, what distinguished him was the knowledge of parallel texts created in the target language, i.e. mainly translations of the Bible, as well as extra-linguistic knowledge of the recipients of the translation, i.e. the community of Lithuanian-Polish Tatars.