Rzecz o Kubusiu i Fredzi, czyli o nazwach własnych w dwóch polskich przekładach tekstów Alana Alexandra Milne’a

Abstract

Winnie­the­Pooh, a literary work published by Alan Alexander Milne in 1926, has been appreciated by readers worldwide for nearly a century. The story about a little bear and his companions was first bellowed in book version, then became one of Disney’s best and unforgettable adaptations. The text proves rather difficult to translate, for Milne demonstrated great creativity, particularly in naming his characters and various places. It is rife with many ambiguous expressions, neologisms, onomatopoeias, and intentional language errors. The name of the eponymous bear, for instance, Winnie­the­Pooh, well illustrates the difficulty in translation, for Winnie, a reportedly diminutive form of Winifred, is allegedly a female name, whereas the bear is referred to as male. The Pooh part has also proven problematic in translation.The following article is an attempt at analyzing selected proper names in two Polish translations of the story. In 1938, Irena Tuwim published a translation entitled Kubuś Puchatek, which Polish readers immediately fell in love with. In 1986, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska published her translation, Fredzia Phi­Phi. It attracted a deluge of negative com-ments and contemptuous reactions with many readers expressing dislike for Fredzia Phi­Phi, viewing it as a crime against the lauded first translation – which, as it happens, contains many mistakes and strays far from the original text.