Problems of translating personal names in Classic Chinese novels : an analysis of the Polish translations of "Jing Ping Mei" and "Xiyou Ji"

The present article aims to analyse Polish translations of personal names in two Chinese classical novels: the fantasy novel "Xiyou Ji" (西遊記), translated by Tadeusz Żbikowski into Polish in two parts – as "Małpi bunt" (Wu 1976) and "Wędrówka na zachód" (Wu 1984) – and "Jin Ping Mei" (金瓶梅), translated by Irena Sławińska-Hu Peifang, Jerzy Chociłowski and Ryszard Chmielewski as "Kwiaty śliwy w złotym wazonie" (2001). "Xiyou Ji" and "Jin Ping Mei" are well known not only within Chinese-speaking societies but also in other East Asian countries. The Polish translations of these two novels are two of the few translations of classical Chinese literature made in Poland. Personal names appearing in these novels have been analysed in terms of various translation strategies employed by the novels’ translators. The aim of this analysis is to determine which strategies were preferred by Polish translators of Chinese classical novels and to identify which considerations could have influenced their choices. The article argues that the strategies most frequently used by Polish translators are transcription, translation, modification, and addition. It has also been found that Polish translators often employ two or more strategies simultaneously to translate one personal name.