The Online Response to the Two Polish Translations of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Abstract

The online community of science fiction and fantasy fans constitutes a rich source of material for analysing reader response to translations as its members often reflect not only on the books they read but also on the quality of their translations. The Polish translations of Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men are a good example of translations which evoked ample response online, with criticism focusing on the reasons for initially not employing the usual translator of the Discworld series, the treatment of names and dialect in the translation, and the issues connected with defining the target reader of the text and adjusting the text to their needs. The analysis of online reactions shows that translation solutions are considered problematic by readers especially when the reasons behind them are not clear.