Translation choices as an object of valuation in comments on blogs and sites for readers

Abstract

Retranslations of works belonging to the literary canon can be controversial, especially when the translator changes the title, character and place names already well‑- established in the target culture. This was the case with Anna Bańkowska’s Anne z Zielonych Szczytów, a 2022 rendition of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel Anne of Green Gables. This paper examines a selection of online comments referring to Anna Bańkowska’s translation choices in order to identify the categories of valuation to which commentators referred. As it turned out, the positive valuation of the new translation most often involved references to cognitive, perfectionist and ethical categories, while the negative valuation was usually performed — among others — in social and pragmatic categories. A significant factor influencing valuation was the fact that Bańkowska’s translation was interpretatively intertwined with the earlier translations. In view of the content richness of the internet comments, revealing a critical reception of cultural texts by their authors, they can be rightly considered a form of translation criticism.