Peritext in Polish Translations from Italian in the Eighteenth Century: Education or Manipulation?

The paper focuses on peritexts (Gérard Genette) in Polish Enlightenment translations of three Italian texts: Francesco Algarotti’s novel Il congresso di Citera (1745, 1763; the Polish version ca. 1788), Cesare Beccaria’s treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764; the Polish version 1772) and Giovanni Barberi’s ideological text Compendio della vita, e delle gesta di Giuseppe Balsamo denominato il conte Cagliostro (1791; the Polish version 1793). Their translators: Marianna Maliszewska, Teodor Waga, and Grzegorz Kniażewicz, added a significant amount of their own introductions and notes to the hypertext, which reflected a widespread tendency in  Polish literature, both original and translated, in that period. The information given in the translators’ peritext is analysed here in order to trace manipulation within cultural mediation. The translators take different approaches. Maliszewska’s comments lack the exegetic function, while the observed elements of manipulation may be down to her deficiency in cultural competence and to her low status as a translator. Waga, who uses all kinds of translator’s notes, seems reliable and non-confrontational. His comments are mostly intended to make sure that the text is read according to the author’s intentions and to the Enlightenment outlook. Kniażewicz is the most polemical, partly towards the author of the peritext in the French version of the translated text, which he abuses rather than uses. His peritext definitely indoctrinates the reader and the extent of manipulation in his notes is the largest.