Miss Krystyna Wieszczek is Postgraduate research student within English at the University of Southampton.
I hold an MA (Máster Oficial) in Translation Studies from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and a BA (licencjat) in English Philology awarded in Poland.
My interests include translation and reception history with a focus on literary censorship. My MA dissertation focused on literary translation and censorship in Soviet-dominated Poland (1945-1989) and my PhD project at Southampton traces George Orwell's reception history both in communist Poland (1945-1989) and among Polish émigré circles during that period.
After the Second World War, Poland fell into the sphere of Soviet influence. Orwell, among other writers, was often depicted as an enemy of the Soviet communist system and a threat to its people. As a consequence, Orwell's works faced severe censorship, and his books could not be officially published in Poland until the 1980s. Orwell's Polish reception went underground, where it drew upon both foreign and Polish émigré works. Orwell's main texts were translated and published abroad (e.g. the first Polish edition of Animal Farm was published in London as early as in 1947), since various Polish intellectuals in exile knew Orwell personally and saw echoes in his work of the Polish situation. However, despite the official ban, it is possible to unlock traces of Orwell's ‘official' presence in Poland, too, for example, in the press articles and publications on literature or in state libraries' reserved collections, whereas the national archives sometimes offer a glimpse into the party's inner perception of the British author.
The project thus will look at Orwell's ‘official', ‘underground' and ‘émigré' receptions as well as how the three parallel receptions interacted with and influenced one another.
I also enjoy translating and interpreting between English, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese in my spare time.