Farewell to the Magic in the Translation of Witkacy

Abstract

This article reveals theoretic aspects on literary translation through the analyses of the translation of the novel  Farewell to the autumn by Polish writer Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. It concerns  the competences  and  skills  a  translator  of literature  should  have.  Among  other topics which have been analyzed, there is the creativeness, knowledge of cultural differences, writing skills in the goal- language. The analyses prove that it’s not that simple to translate literature and that it’s a special type of translation in the typology of translations. The article presents a list of most commonly made mistakes by translators who are not yet fit to translate  literature  of  this  kind.  Translation  of  highly rated  literature  is  a  kind  of  magic, because  of  the  effect  they  produce  on  the  reader,  and  the translator  should  be  skilled  in making the magic of the words.