Tłumacze literaccy: realia i warsztat pracy

The paper presents the results of a short survey conducted by the author among 80 Polish literary translators, concerning their working conditions. The questions focused on the types of texts they accept for translation, and their cooperation with publishers, editors and proofreaders. Among the most notable results was the observation that about a third of the respondents do not specialize in any genre, author, period or area of literary translation; among those who do, the specialisations usually derive from their private interests preceding translation experience. A large proportion of translators try to suggest texts worthy of translation to their publishers, but many do not feel they have any influence or even choice when it comes to the selection of commissions they receive. The publisher usually does not explicitly specify the aim, target group and conditions of a translation job, and editors and proofreaders usually only come into contact with the translator once the translation is finished. Most of the respondents receive the text as a digital file, which they usually do not read in full before commencing translation. The results may be read as suggestions for translation teachers, who might implement exercises aimed to prepare students for the working conditions they may encounter into the didactic process.