Ferdydurke

Ferdydurke
Author	Witold Gombrowicz
Translator	Danuta Borchardt
Cover artist	Bruno Schulz
Language	Polish
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Towarzystwo Wydawnicze "Rój",Warsaw(1st ed); Harcourt, Braceand World (New York 1961);Yale University Press(2000)
Publication date	Oct1937(1st ed dated 1938)
Publication place	Poland
Published in English	1961 (1st US ed), Aug 2000 (new translation)
Media type	Print (Hardcover& tradepaperback)
Pages	281pp (YUP ed)
ISBN	0-300-08240-1(YUP pb),ISBN0-7145-3403-X(2005 UK pb)
OCLC	43114995
Dewey Decimal	891.8/5273 21
LC Class	PG7158.G669 F4713 2000

Ferdydurkeis a novel by the Polish writerWitold Gombrowicz,published in 1937. It was his first and most controversial novel.^[1]

The book has been described as a "cult novel".^[2]

Author's comment

Gombrowicz himself wrote of his novel that it is not "... a satire on some social class, nor a nihilistic attack on culture... We live in an era of violent changes, of accelerated development, in which settled forms are breaking under life's pressure... The need to find a form for what is yet immature, uncrystalized and underdeveloped, as well as the groan at the impossibility of such a postulate – this is the chief excitement of my book."^[3]

Translations

The first translation of the novel, to Spanish, published inBuenos Airesin1947,was done by Gombrowicz himself. A translation committee presided over by the Cuban writerVirgilio Piñerahelped him in this endeavor, since Gombrowicz felt that he did not know the language well enough at the time to do it on his own. Gombrowicz again collaborated on a French translation of the book, with Ronald Martin in 1958. A direct German translation by Walter Tiel was published in 1960. In 2006, the first Brazilian Portuguese translation by Tomasz Barciński, direct from the Polish original text, was delivered.

The first English translation ofFerdydurke,byEric Mosbacher,was published in 1961. It was a combined indirect translation of the French, German and possibly Spanish translations. In 2000, Yale University Press published the first direct translation from the original Polish.^[4]The 2000 edition, translated byDanuta Borchardt,has an introduction bySusan Sontag.

Direct and indirect translations now exist in over twenty languages.^[5]

Adaptations

Jerzy Skolimowskidirected the 1991 film adaptation ofFerdydurke(alternate English title:30 Door Key) with an international cast includingIain Glen,Crispin Glover,Beata Poźniak,Robert Stephens,Judith Godrèche,Zbigniew Zamachowski,andFabienne Babe.

In 1999,Ferdydurkewas adapted into a stage play by Provisorium & Kompania Theater fromLublin.

Analysis

The novel has been described as a "meditation on stupidity and immaturity", with its other main themes being the tragedy of passing from immature, utopian youth to adulthood, and the degree to which culture can infantilize various subjects.^[1]^[6]

Reception

The book was Gombrowicz's first and most controversial novel.^[1]It has been described since as a cult novel.^[2]Writing in 1995,Warren F. Mottecommented that the book "exemplifies that rare bird of literary avant-garde: a text that retains, decades after its initial publication, the power to shock.".^[7]

Influences

Among works influenced by the book isJacek Dukaj's novelOther Songs.^[8]

References

^^a ^b ^cHanjo Berressem (1998).Lines of Desire: Reading Gombrowicz's Fiction with Lacan.Northwestern University Press. p. 34.ISBN 978-0-8101-1309-1.
^^a ^bMagda Romanska (1 October 2014).The Post-traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor: History and Holocaust in ‘Akropolis’ and ‘Dead Class’.Anthem Press. p. 215.ISBN 978-1-78308-321-3.
^* Danuta Borchardt:Translating Witold Gombrowicz'sFerdydurke
^Eva Hoffman:Stream of Subconsciousness– review inThe New York Times10 December 2000
^"Bibliography of translations of Ferdydurke".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-13.Retrieved2011-07-24.
^Michael Goddard (2010).Gombrowicz, Polish Modernism, and the Subversion of Form.Purdue University Press. p. 32.ISBN 978-1-55753-552-8.
^Warren F. Motte (1995).Playtexts: Ludics in Contemporary Literature.U of Nebraska Press. pp. 51–.ISBN 0-8032-3181-4.
^Tokarz, Bożena (2014)."Świadomość formy w powieści Jacka Dukaja Inne pieśni".Zagadnienia Rodzajów Literackich(in Polish). 57/114 z. 2: 163–176.ISSN 0084-4446.

External links

Presentation, analysis and excerpt ofFerdydurkeon the official website of Witold Gombrowicz
Short extractat UK publisher website
Overviewat Polish Library
Ferdydurke A. D. 1947:article about the publication of the Spanish translation in Argentina (PDF)
YUP page with reviews Archived2012-02-07 at theWayback Machine
Review of the playin 2001 NYT
Untranslatable elements in "Ferdydurke"Archived2016-05-20 at theWayback Machine

[Berressem1998-1] Hanjo Berressem (1998).Lines of Desire: Reading Gombrowicz's Fiction with Lacan.Northwestern University Press. p. 34.ISBN 978-0-8101-1309-1.

[Romanska2014-2] Magda Romanska (1 October 2014).The Post-traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor: History and Holocaust in ‘Akropolis’ and ‘Dead Class’.Anthem Press. p. 215.ISBN 978-1-78308-321-3.

[3] * Danuta Borchardt:Translating Witold Gombrowicz'sFerdydurke

[4] Eva Hoffman:Stream of Subconsciousness– review inThe New York Times10 December 2000

[http://www.gombrowicz.net/Ferdydurke,1325.html-5] "Bibliography of translations of Ferdydurke".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-13.Retrieved2011-07-24.

[Goddard2010-6] Michael Goddard (2010).Gombrowicz, Polish Modernism, and the Subversion of Form.Purdue University Press. p. 32.ISBN 978-1-55753-552-8.

[Motte1995-7] Warren F. Motte (1995).Playtexts: Ludics in Contemporary Literature.U of Nebraska Press. pp. 51–.ISBN 0-8032-3181-4.

[:0-8] Tokarz, Bożena (2014)."Świadomość formy w powieści Jacka Dukaja Inne pieśni".Zagadnienia Rodzajów Literackich(in Polish). 57/114 z. 2: 163–176.ISSN 0084-4446.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]