ABSTRACT
For migrants whose everyday lives are inherently multicultural and multilingual, translation and polylingualism are the norms, while monoculturalism and monolingualism are the deviations. By exploring the links between translation, migration, literature and culture, this chapter has two main objectives. Firstly, it aims to deepen the understanding of “experiential translation”—a concept introduced by Madeleine Campbell and Ricarda Vidal in their 2019 book Translating across Sensory and Linguistic Borders and further developed in their 2024 volume The Experience of Translation—by discussing the notions of “experience” and “perception” within the concept. Secondly, it seeks to demonstrate how experiential translation can be employed as a tool to analyse migration in cultural texts. To illustrate this, the chapter examines Agata Wawryniuk's graphic novel Rozmówki polsko-angielskie (The Polish-English Phrasebook) and the adaptation of Julia Holewińska's play Rewolucja balonowa (Bubble Revolution) by Polish Theatre Ireland. This analysis elucidates the ways in which migrant authors/artists translate their lived experiences across both sensory and linguistic borders. Although the primary focus is on how the authors fulfil the role of translators and perform experiential translation, attention is also given to the recipients/readers of these texts and how they participate in the translation process.
