Nothing Sacred? Not Quite: Krzysztof Hejwowski as a Critic and Self-critic

Abstract

Krzysztof Hejwowski was one of the most eminent translation studies scholars and translators in Poland. Working within the paradigm of cognitive linguistics, he left a legacy embracing a host of articles and three books in which he formulated his theory of translation based on a communicative and cognitive approach to language. While working on his theory, he both subscribed to and challenged the views of other scholars, depending on their theoretical validity, practical pertinence, and lucidity, thus demonstrating his theoretically and practically-oriented attitude to scholarship. Nevertheless, he was not a rebel in the field or an iconoclast who criticized other scholars for the sake of criticism. Rather, he was critical of the ways in which the discipline was developing at the turn of the twenty-first century and searched for a more balanced approach to the theory and practice of translation. Striving for clarity and applicability of his propositions, he also continuously developed his ideas. The aim of this essay it to present some of those theoretical approaches and formulations that he disagreed with as evidenced mostly in his 2004 book Translation: A Cognitive-Communicative Approach. Additionally, his 2015 book Iluzja przekładu. Przekładoznawstwo w ujęciu konstruktywnym will serve to demonstrate how he self-corrected some of his ideas.