“Quasi-lands”: Quasi-translations of Peter Pan?

Abstract

Barrie’s classic was first translated into Polish in 1958 by an acclaimed translator Maciej Słomczyński who introduced to both the text and the Polish culture the concept of Nibylandia (Quasi-land) which was quite foreign to the original. A new translation of Peter Pan (together with Peter Pan in Scarlet) was prepared by Michał Rusinek and published in 2006, yet the concept remained unchanged. The essay concerns certain politics of attributing proper names and gender aspects in the translations of the book, but focuses primarily on the unfortunate consequences of (mis)translating the key notion of Neverland. With references to postcolonial and postmodern thinkers, and with the help of British analytical philosophy, it is argued that such a rendition domesticates the unhomely experience of the Real, thus stripping the reader of the possibility of stepping beyond the safe reality of the bedside lamps which, in Barrie’s story, protect children from the Other.