Polish translations of foreign humanities texts and "knowledge-based society"

Abstract

The real boom of Polish translations of foreign professional literature in the humanities is not a value in itself. In this field, as in many others, the quantity is not associated with quality, and there are so many misleading translations that they begin to threaten the quality of education. The author proposes criteria for assessing the quality of translation and presents illustrations of situations where these criteria are not met. Reasons of the decline in the quality of translations are examined in the area of complex conditionings, both economic and cultural, in particular those relating to the actual function of the so-called knowledge-based society. The skeptical overview of the knowledge-based society (and the mainstream sociology as its intellectual legitimation) is encouraged by the findings of the Foucauldian concept of "governmentality". Seen in this light, the knowledge-based society is proving to be one of the "dispositivs" of neoliberal "governmentality". It would be worthwhile to consider whether there might be some reasonable alternative to the extensive model of publishing Polish versions of foreign scholarly literature enforced in recent years. The dominance of the "knowledge-based society" cannot be eliminated for a number of reasons but it should be avoided whenever possible, also in the field of translation. For this purpose, a list of recommendations has been proposed, whose application could limit the negative trends in the quality of translations.