Tlumacz jako medium (rzec o literackosci tlumaczenia teatralmengo i teatralnosci tlumaczenia literackiego): przywolanie duchòw Kantora

The author’s experience of translating the theoretical and theatrical texts of Tadeusz Kantor – among others the “partituras” of his masterpieces The Dead Class and Wielopole, Wielopole – becomes the starting point for a more general reflection about some theoretical and practical aspects of theatre translation and their relationship with literary translation tout court. The metaphor of (theatrical) translator as a medium and that of translation as the evocation of “voices” – stimulated especially by the “spirits” of The Dead Class and the necessity of their “resurrection” in a new language/culture – is a trope aimed at illustrating the strong link between the literary component of theatrical translation and theatricality of literary translation. In the author’s opinion it is not a simple tautology, but one of the most important aspects of theatrical translation – which is at the same time intra- and interlinguistic, as well as intersemiotic. Theatrical translators appear indeed not only as the media of “other” voices, but to some extent also as actors of their own texts, since the interplay with the proto-texts and their emotive and communicative goals is achieved through a series of performative elements not far removed from those of an actor on stage.