Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America (Studies in Slavic Literature and Poetics 40) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9042010169 ISBN 13: 9789042010161

Publisher: Rodopi, 2003

Synopsis

Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America discusses the interaction of Polish and American culture, the transfer of the Central European experience abroad and the acculturation of major representatives of Polish literature to the United States. Contributions written by American specialists in Polish Studies tell the story of contemporary Polish expatriates who recently lived or are currently living in the U.S. These authors include directors/screen writers Roman Polanski and Agnieszka Holland, the Nobel Prize laureate poet Czeslaw Milosz, theatre critic Jan Kott, prose writer Jerzy Kosinski, essayist Eva Hoffman, and poet/translator Stanislaw Baranczak. Living in Translation presents these and other writers in terms of the duality of their profiles resulting from their engagement in two different cultures. It documents problems encountered by those who became expatriates in response to a totalitarian system they had left behind. And it revises and updates the image of the Polish exile authors, refocusing it along the lines of culture transfer, border straddling, and benefits resulting from a transcultural existence.

About this title

About the Author:

Halina Stephan is Professor of Russian and Polish Literature and Director of the Center for Slavic and East European Studies at Ohio State University. She is an author of books LEF and the Left Front of the Arts (1981), Mrozek (1996), Transcending the Absurd: Prose and Drama of S??l??awomir Mro??z??ek, (1997), and an edited volume Zycie w przek??l??adzie (2001). Her articles focus on Russian avant-garde literature, Russian science fiction, Polish drama and émigré literature.

Review:

"...an invaluable contribution to Polish literary studies..." in: Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2005 "...a valuable source....a highly recommended addition to the reading lists for courses on Central and Eastern European culture." in: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 100.3, 2005, pp. 855-6 "Living in Translation is a flawlessly edited volume of fine scholarship. It is a very informative book..." in: Slavic Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, Winter 2004 "...this is a valuable book which deserves to be widely studied." in: SEER, 82.3, 2004, pp. 732-4

About this edition

• Publisher: Rodopi
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 9042010169
• ISBN 13: 9789042010161
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382
• Editor: Stephan Halina