“Cast Forth in the Common air”? Piotr Kamiński’s Translation of Mowbray’s Speech in Richard II

The article discusses the metadramatic aspect of William Shakespeare’s Richard II and the way it is rendered in the contemporary Polish translation by Piotr Kamiński, based on a theoretical reflection offered by Patrice Pavis. As Richard II is famous as a “play about language”, one of its themes is being exiled from one’s native language. It seems that this metaphor perfectly lends itself to the discussion of drama translation. In fact, owing to Kamiński’s careful handling of this theme, his text might be read as both metadrama and metatranslation. Furthermore, the article looks into the possibility of translations’ influences on the source culture and assesses potential cultural benefits of drama translation.