The Hero of the Polyphonic Novel in Translation

Abstract

The Master and Margarita is one of the most often translated books in Poland. The fi rst translationwas done by Witold Dąbrowski and Irena Lewandowska in 1969, the second by AndrzejDrawicz in 1995. In both these translations, the polyphonic intertextuality of the novel turns outto be particularly problematic. The characters lack their own histories, and in a way they lose theirsubjectivity. The titular Margarita is a polyphonic heroine par excellence, framed through allusionsto both Goethe’s Faust and the socio-cultural history of the interwar period. The translators haveapproached the subject differently by emphasizing or veiling particular elements of the character’screation. As a result, we are presented with images of the heroine that, in their own ways, vary fromBulgakov’s version.