Translating or Rewriting? Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Russian Translation of Luca de Linda's «Descriptio Orbis»

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Abstract

The article examines the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth`s description in «Opisanie sveta», a Russian translation of the Latin cosmography «Descriptio Orbis» by Luca de Linda. This description, to which Luca de Linda paid special attention, has been changed in the translation: the parts about geography, ranks, and Polish kings are reworked and contain details absent in the original. The translator's tactic is silence and change of emphasis: thus, if the original pays much attention to the political history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the translation turns the text into a few legenda­ry stories and a list of dates, and completely excludes references to Polish-Russian contacts. As a consequence, some parts about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are more a rewriting than translation, possibly based on other texts. «Descriptio Orbis» reflects the situation of Polish-Russian conflicts in the early 17th century, while «Opisanie sveta» appears after the Treaty of Perpetual Peace. Thus, the translator, firstly, levels the significance of the fragments about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth present in the original, and, secondly, creates a more neutral image of the state.

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About the authors

A. D. Kuznetsova

National Research University «Higher School of Economics»

Author for correspondence.
Email: al.kuznetsova@hse.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0002-6545-6204
postgraduate student St. Petersburg

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