Excerpts from Ustęp (Passage) of Dziady III (Forefathers’ Eve, Part III) by Adam Mickiewicz in Russian Translations Published between 1917 and 1955

Abstract

The article discusses three translations of the excerpts of Ustęp from Adam Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve – a part of the play which was the most crucial from the perspective of its Russian audience. The comparative analysis of these translations reveals a variety of modifications introduced in the text, including also a set of changes obviously aimed at manipulating the Russian readers. The article provides a hypothesis to explain this issue, based on the assumption that the translational shifts result not only from deliberate attempts to alter the original meanings, but also from the translators’ failure to identify and understand the cultural and historical background of Mickiewicz’s work that was so significant for Polish readers of the original.