Textual variants: What happens to them in translation? : some reflections on the Polish critical editions of Hamlet

The problem of textual variants of Shakespeare's plays has always been addressed in English critical editions, which discuss them at length and facilitate comparison between text versions. The textual history of a play becomes largely irrelevant in the case of translation, which has a "flattening effect" on textual variants: Shakespeare in translation is Shakespeare standardised. Theatre, a primary recipient of new translations, is likewise not particularly concerned with textual variance. Do problems resulting from the rich textual history of Shakespeare's plays resurface in the case of critical editions of translations, supplemented by rich critical apparatus? If so, in what ways did translators and editors approach them? The goal of this essay is to examine these questions in the context of the Polish reception of Shakespeare and Hamlet in particular. The textual situation of Shakespeare's most celebrated tragedy is complex and Polish translators adapted a variety of approaches to address this issue. This essay takes into account selected editions from the last two centuries. First, the translation of Hamlet by Władysław Matlakowski, published in a bilingual edition, was appended with an exceptionally extensive critical apparatus and constitutes a noteworthy position in the editorial history of Polish Shakespeare. Other significant editions are "professorial" translations by Władysław Tarnawski and Andrzej Tretiak. Later translations by Witold Chwalewik and Juliusz Kydryński are pioneering in this regard, a s they seem to present editorial revisionism in their attempt to highlight the plurality of Hamlet versions.