Estudios
Preliminary texts to Krótka relacja o wyniszczeniu Indian, their ideological charge and a possible influence in the reading of the target text
This paper analyses two peritexts preceding a Polish version of Bartolomé de Las Casas’ A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, put to press in 1956 and 1988 by two catholic publishing houses, PAX and “W drodze”, respectively. Based on three basic criteria of contrastive analysis, i.e. content, interpretation suggested by their authors and verbal form, the study revealed that both paratexts are marked by the catholic orientation of Mieczysław Żywczyński and Wojciech Giertych, however to a different extent. They are also influenced by the historic moment in which they have been conceived. As far as the form is concerned, they turn out outdated because of some notable obsolete features used in introductions and references, unacceptable these days, but at the same time they keep an interesting historical mark.