The Theme of Social Injustice in the Polish Translation of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The aim of the present study is to analyze the theme of social injustice in the nineteenth century translation of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. It is to be seen what changes occurred in the theme of social injustice between the target and the source languages as a result of the translator’s initiative. The examined rendition comprises the Polish version of Oliwer Twist which was translated anonymously in 1845. The analysis is carried out with regard to a number of the translational parameters. These parameters include translation shifts (Catford, 1965), disambiguation and semantic or stylistic incongruities (Munday, 2004), direct and oblique techniques (Vinay and Darbelnet, 1995). The theoretical part of the paper presents such concepts as the issue of social injustice in Victorian England and Dickens’s personal attitude in this regard. The description of the theoretical notion of translation shifts is also included. Additionally, the model of analyzing meaning known as disambiguation is introduced. Concurrently, direct and oblique translation techniques in reference to semantic and stylistic incongruities are mentioned. The practical part consists in analyzing the selected fragments of the source text juxtaposed with their target equivalents. The scrutiny aims at identifying how phrases dealing with social injustice were translated in line with the translational parameters in question. Finally, conclusions are drawn.

The Theme of Social Injustice in the Polish Translation of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Keywords:

Dickens , social injustice , translation analysis , translation shifts , direct and oblique translation techniques