Stanisław Barańczak
Stanisław Barańczak (1946–2014) was a poet, translator and literary critic. Between 1990 and 2001 he translated twenty-five Shakespeare plays and also a substantial proportion of the canons of British and American poetry. His translations dominated the Polish stage to an extent achieved by no other translator in the two-hundred-year history of Shakespeare’s reception in Poland. Barańczak’s translations, along with his collection of essays Ocalone w tłumaczeniu (Saved in Translation), contributed to a radical and enduring change in thinking about the art of translation and the translator’s role and responsibilities.
He studied Polish at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and in 1973 defended his doctoral thesis on the poetry of Miron Białoszewski. He was dismissed from the university in 1977 for his involvement in dissident activity. In 1981 he emigrated to the USA, where he became the Alfred Jurzykowski Professor of Polish Language and Literature at Harvard University.
He continued his translation work in the USA, producing English translations of the poetry of Wisława Szymborska and Jan Kochanowski. He won the Kościelski Award in 1972 and the Jurzykowski Prize in 1980. In 1989 he was awarded the Polish PEN Club prize for his translations into Polish. In 1999 he won the Nike Award for his collection of poems, Chirurgiczna precyzja (Surgical Precision). In 2014 he received the Gloria Artis Gold Medal. The following year he was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Barańczak was a trenchant advocate for his own approach to translation and was not afraid to criticise the work of other translators. With their polemical flair and approachable style, Barańczak’s essays made debate about translation accessible to a wide audience, many of whom first encountered Shakespeare’s plays through the prism of Barańczak’s analysis.
Although he had close links to the theatre, he didn’t adapt his translations for specific productions. He proceeded intuitively and made his own interpretations: he reconstructed the dynamics of action and dialogue, modernised the language and gave some characters sharper outlines. As a rule, he took pains to achieve clarity and faithfulness to the original, emphasising the primacy of poetic and dramatic quality over mere literal accuracy. He pointed to the need for concessions, rather than compromises, in situations where meeting all these criteria was impossible.
His imitations of Elizabethan mannerism, especially in comic roles, exhibited tremendous creativity. Sophisticated and brilliant, his displays of linguistic virtuosity came to be seen as the hallmark of his translations, even as they paradoxically left readers under no illusion that they were interacting with Shakespearean texts directly.
Since 1986 there have been more than 250 productions based on Barańczak’s translations. His powerful dominance in the theatre over the last four decades was the result of various factors, including the reassessment of literary canons after 1989 and the needs of a theatre newly liberated from censorship, so seeking to communicate more directly. These needs were met by a translator of unprecedented gifts, a charismatic critic and poet to boot.
Barańczak’s translations have become the subject of academic study. A great deal of attention has been paid to their theatrical qualities and also their creative approach to wordplay and metaphor. The translations have been reissued multiple times and are available in a two-volume collected edition.
Bibliography of translations
William Shakespeare, Romeo i Julia, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1990 (1992, 1994).
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, książę Danii, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1990 (1994, 1995).
William Shakespeare, Burza, Zimowa opowieść, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1991.
William Shakespeare, Król Lear, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1991.
William Shakespeare, Makbet, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1992 (1994).
William Shakespeare, Poskromienie złośnicy, Dwaj panowie z Werony, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1992.
William Shakespeare, Sen nocy letniej, Kupiec wenecki, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1992.
William Shakespeare, Juliusz Cezar, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1993.
William Shakespeare, Otello, Maur wenecki, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1993.
William Shakespeare, Jak wam się podoba, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1993.
William Shakespeare, Wiele hałasu o nic, Wieczór Trzech Króli albo co chcecie, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1994.
William Shakespeare, Komedia omyłek, Stracone zachody miłości, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1994.
William Shakespeare, Koriolan, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1995.
William Shakespeare, Król Ryszard III, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, W drodze, Poznań 1996.
William Shakespeare, Romeo i Julia, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1998 (1999 [audiobook], 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004).
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, książę Danii, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1997 (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004).
William Shakespeare, Król Lear, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1997 (2008).
William Shakespeare, Makbet, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1998 (2000, 2002, 2003).
William Shakespeare, Juliusz Cezar, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2000.
William Shakespeare, Otello, Maur wenecki, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2002.
William Shakespeare, Koriolan, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2003.
William Shakespeare, Tymon Ateńczyk, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1997.
William Shakespeare, Wesołe kumoszki z Windsoru, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1998.
William Shakespeare, Henryk IV, część 1 i 2, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1998.
William Shakespeare, Burza, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1999 (2008).
William Shakespeare, Henryk V, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1999.
William Shakespeare, Sen nocy letniej, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2000 (2008).
William Shakespeare, Wszystko dobre, co się dobrze kończy, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2001.
William Shakespeare, Wieczór Trzech Króli albo co chcecie, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2001 (2008).
William Shakespeare, Kupiec wenecki, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2004.
William Shakespeare, Romeo i Julia, Hamlet, Makbet, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2006.
William Shakespeare, Poskromienie złośnicy, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2007.
William Shakespeare, Komedie, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2012 (2022).
William Shakespeare, Tragedie i kroniki, tłum. Stanisław Barańczak, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 2013 (2022).
Citing
Anna Cetera-Włodarczyk, Stanisław Barańczak EN [in:] Polish Shakespeare. Repository of Polish Translations of Shakespeare's Plays in the 20th and 21st Century: Resources, Approaches, Reception [online], trans. by Piotr Szymczak and Jonathan Baines, https://xx.polskiszekspir.uw.edu.pl/baranczak-stanislaw-translator, 2024-10-16.