A SURVEY OF VLADIMIR POLYANOV’S TRANSLATION OF EDITH NESBIT’S SHAKESPEAREAN TALES IN THE CONTEXT OF SHAKESPEAREAN ADAPTATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN BULGARIA (1878–1944)

Abstract

The article considers Vladimir Polyanov’s volume of Shakespearean plays adapted for children, published in 1937, within the context of other such adaptations during the period 1878–1944. Entitled “Shakespeare for the young”, the volume indicates that it is Polyanov’s translation from the English but the original text remains unnamed. Although it has not been previously acknowledged, the translation, as I argue in this essay, is of Edith Nesbit’s Shakespearean tales published in the first decade of the twentieth century. Together with other findings in the National Library in Sofia, Polyanov’s volume is presented as belonging to a felicitous period for Shakespearean editions for children, the majority of which were translated from English, German and Russian. After an overview of the beginnings and context of Shakespearean adaptations for children in Great Britain and Bulgaria, I focus on Polyanov’s volume and explore the choice of plays, elucidating various aspects of the translator’s engagement with the original text.