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Abstract:

The article examines the problem of preserving and publishing culturally significant texts. The need to remake classical literature in accordance with the tastes and demands of the readership arose already in the 18th century. One way to attract attention to classic literary works is through literary retelling. Strategies for literary retelling were formulated in various accompanying texts that were included in the editions of literary masterpieces. The case of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress shows that at the turn of the 18^th–19^th centuries there arose a need to change the text of the given book in accordance with the requirements of the readership. The analysis of the prefaces to the editions of the given book showed that from the beginning of the 19^th century there existed three approaches to publishing its text: a textual approach, when the publisher tried to reproduce the source text with all its specific features; abridging the text and replacing outdated words and grammatical forms with more modern ones, when the new text became a modernized version of the original; literary retelling, when the author, inspired by the source text, created a work that is both similar and dissimilar to the original. Three strategies for literary retelling can be distinguished: changing the system of characters and, as a result, changing the point of view on the events described; change in time and place of action; changing the genre of the work. As a rule, literary retellings combine two or three strategies in one text.