André de Lorde in English and in Polish. Particularism vs Essentialism

Two Approaches to the Translation of a Grand-Guignol Dramatic Text

Abstract

The article examines two recent translations (Polish and English) of André de Lorde’s drama entitled La Dernière torture, and the strategies employed to convey the aesthetics of macabre and terror of the Grand-Guignol Theatre, which was popular in Paris in the years 1897-1962, and is regarded as the precursor of the modern horror movie. The drama is an amazing representative of the Grand-Guignol as it intricately builds on tension and fear by means of both visual clues (terrifying scenes) and also verbal hints (appealing to the audience’s imagination and feelings).The analysis of the translated texts and their comparison to the French original reveal two different, yet equally successful, approaches to translation of the Grand-Guignol dramatic text referred to as: particularism and essentialism. Both the approaches, originating from different assumptions, aim to preserve the original atmosphere of the drama and to take into account the fact that their audiences have been raised in different realities than that of André de Lorde’s contemporaries.