Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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warsbythepoetsDemyanBednyy,VladimirMayakovskiy,andlater

AleksandrBlok.Interestwasshownalsoinnovelsandshortstorieswithacivil

wartheme,suchasthosebyKonstantinFedin,VsevolodIvanov,IsaakBabel,

BorisPilnyakandLeonidLeonov.

Despiteideologicalconstraintsimposedbytherulingregime,theperiodfrom

1948to1989witnessedaconsiderableincreaseintranslations.Publishing

policy,withfinancialsupportfromthestate,madeitpossibletobringoutnot

onlytendentiousliterature,butalsotranslationsofvaluable(thoughnot

necessarilycommerciallyviable)titlesofworldliterature.Duringthepastthirty

years,translationsintoCzechwerepublishedfromfiftyfivelanguages,not

countingthemajorinternationallanguages.Directtranslationswerealsomade

frommanysmallerEuropeanlanguages,suchasFlemish,Welsh,Icelandic,

LusatianSorbian,Yiddish,MacedonianandCatalan.Thereexistnowmany

directtranslationsofclassicalandcontemporaryworksfromArabic,Chinese,

Indonesian,Japanese,Korean,Farsi,Vietnamese,severallanguagesofIndia

(suchasBengali,Hindi,Hindustani,Malayalam,Marathi,PunjabiandTamil)

andfromsuch‘exotic’languagesasSwahili,Cakchiquel,Quiché,Yucatecand

Eskimo.Norhastheliteraryheritageofthedeadlanguages,suchasAccadian,

Assyrian,Aztec,classicalGreekandLatin,Hebrew,SanskritandSumerian,

beenforgotten.

Oneofthenegativephenomena,especiallyinthe1970sand1980s,wasthe

markedspreadofthetranslationofpoetrywiththeaidof‘interlinear’orword

forwordtranslations;thiswasjustifiedtheoreticallybytheargumentthatpoetry

couldonlybetranslatedbyapoet.Therealreason,however,waspolitical

ratherthancultural,inthatthispracticefollowedwhathadbecomethenormin

theformerSovietUnion.Onoccasions,thecollaborationbetweenalinguistand

apoethasundoubtedlyresultedinfinetranslations,butinmostinstancesthis

practicehasnotenrichedthestorehouseofCzechtranslationofforeignpoetry.

After1989,thegreatturningpointinthepoliticalorientationoftheCzech

Republicandtheswitchtoamarketeconomyresultedinfundamentalchanges

inthepatternsofpublishingtranslatedliterature.Ontheonehand,therewasthe

definitiveremovalofideologicalbarriers,butontheothertherewasthelossof

statesubsidies.Inthefieldoftranslationthismeantamarkedcommercialization

ofthebookmarketandatemporarydeclineinpublishers’interestinmore

demandinggenres,especiallypoetry.Theboominpublishingcommercially

viablematerial,translatedprimarilyfromEnglishandGerman,hasinevitably

attractedprofessionallylesscompetenttranslators,thoughthehighstandardof

translationintoCzechhasmoreorlessbeenmaintained.

Czechculturehasatalltimesmaintainedalivelyinterestinwhatishappening

abroad.Inliterarytranslation,thishasmeantthatvirtuallyeverygenerationhas

madeitsown,sometimesmorethanone,translationofoutstandingworksof

worldliterature.Asmallillustrationofthisisthefactthatthereexistthirteen

publishedCzechtranslationsofEdgarAllanPoe’spoem‘TheRaven’.

Nonliterarytranslation

Unlikeliterarytranslation,commercial,medical,scientificandtechnical

translationdidnotbecomethesubjectofacademicstudyintheCzechRepublic

thoughitwas,ofcourse,practised(ifonalimitedscale)byspecialistsintheir

fieldsbetweenthetwowars.Withtheprofessionalizationoftranslationafter

WorldWarII,itbecamemorecommontoemploynonliterarytranslatorsinthe

translationdepartmentsofindustrialandcommercialenterprises,althoughof

coursemanycontinuedtoworkfreelanceinmuchthesamewayasliterary

translators.In1989,whenthecountryadoptedamarketeconomy,nonliterary

translationnaturallygainedinimportanceasitwasrecognizedasasaleable

commodity.Atthesametime,translationagenciesweresetupandindividual

translatorsofcommercialtextsbegantoworkthroughthem.

Interpreting

IntheFirstRepublic(1918–39),membersofethnicminoritieshadtherightto

pleadinlowercourtsintheirownlanguage.Official(orauthorized)interpreters

werethereforeneededintheseandsimilarinstitutions,thoughtheywerenotat

thetimestrictly‘professional’nor,asarule,fulltimeinterpreters.

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Interpreterswerealsousedatthediplomaticandgovernmentallevels.After

WorldWarII,inthe1940sand1950s,simultaneousinterpretingwasprovided

primarilybythefollowingcategories:wartimeémigrés(English),Jewish

survivorsoftheconcentrationcamps(German),secondgenerationRussian

émigrés(Russian),educatedCzechsfromtheprewarfrancophileenvironment

(French).Fewofthesehadanylinguistictraining.Alargenumberofadhoc

interpreterswere,andstillare,alsousedas‘guideinterpreters’forforeign

visitors:thePragueInformationServicehadsome2,500guideinterpreterson

itslistin1994.Averysmallnumberofthemorehighlyqualifiedconference

interpreterswere/aremembersofAIIC.

Furtherreading

Levý1957;ActaUniversitatisCarolinae,TranslatologicaPragensia

(1984–);Galan1988;Mánek1990/91;Kufnerováetal.1994.

ZLATAKUFNEROVÁANDEWALDOSERS

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DanishandNorwegiantraditions

DanishandNorwegianarebothIndoEuropeanlanguages,historicallyand

structurallyrelatedtoDutch,EnglishandGerman.Withtheexceptionof

Finnish,theScandinavianlanguagesconstitutethesubgrouptermed‘Nordic’,

butDanishandNorwegianbelongtodifferentsubtypes:Danish(withSwedish)

belongstotheEastNordicgroup,Norwegian(withIcelandicandFaroese)to

theWestNordic.However,thelanguagesituationinNorwayiscomplicatedby

thefactthatforover400years(1397–1814)DenmarkandNorwayformed

onestate,towhichalsobelongedSchleswigHolstein,Iceland,theFaroe

Islandsand,afteritsrediscoveryintheeighteenthcentury,Greenland.

Copenhagen,inDenmark,wasthecapitalandadministrativecentreofthe

realm,andDanishwasconsequentlythelanguageofadministrationandofthe

administrators.Asaresult,aliterarylanguagebarelydistinguishablefrom

standardDanishdevelopedinthetownsofsouthernNorway,sothatinthelate

nineteenthcentury,longaftertheseveranceoftheunion,theplaysofHenrik

IbsencouldbeperformedintheiroriginalversionsattheRoyalTheatrein

Copenhagen.

But,longbeforethat,amovementhadbeenlaunchedtocreateanewstandard

Norwegianlanguage,Nynorsk(NewNorwegian),onthebasisofthedialects

ofruralareasuncontaminatedbyDanishinfluence.Thisresultedinasituation

withtwoofficiallanguagesandamovementawayfromDanish,evenforthe

traditionalliterarymedium,thenearDanishRiksmålorBokmål(book

language)ofthesouth.

ThisentrytreatsDenmarkandNorwayasoneareaintheperiodupto1800

andasseparateareasforthemodernperiod.

AstheScandinavianlanguagecommunitiesaresmall,theirneedfortranslationis

evengreaterthanisthecaseforthelanguagesoflargercountries.Therehas,of

course,beenaconsiderableamountofmutualtranslationbetweenScandinavian

languages,thoughtheurgetocommunicatehassometimesbeenquelledby

mutualanimosity,asaftertheDanish–Swedishwarsintheseventeenthcentury

andNorway’sstruggleforindependenceduringthenineteenthcentury.More

important,therefore,hasbeentheinfluencefromandattractiontoother

Europeancivilizations.Fromtheearliestdaysandupto1900theattractionto

Germanywasbyfarthegreatest.IntheMiddleAges,theHansehad

settlementsandtradingpostsalloverScandinavia,andGermaninfluence

continueduntiltheSchleswigwarsofthemidnineteenthcentury.English

influencewasbyandlargeofminorimportancethroughoutmostofthisperiod

andwasseverelycheckedduringtheNapoleonicWars,when

Denmark/NorwaywasforcedintoanalliancewithFrance,andCopenhagen

wasbombardedbytheBritishnavyin1807.Britishinfluencewasre

establishedinthelatterhalfofthenineteenthcentury,tobestrengthenedinthe

twentiethbyAmericaninfluence,sothattodaybyfarthemajorityoftranslations

arefromandintoEnglish.

WedonotknowmuchaboutthetranslationsituationinScandinaviainearly

times;translationhistorybeginswiththeintroductionofChristianityaroundthe

year1000,buttheearlyMiddleAgeshaveleftfewrecords.Latin,ofcourse,

wastheliterarylanguage,butcontrarytothepracticeofEnglandandIceland,

fewtextsweretranslatedintothevernacular.Therefore,theevidencewehave

oftranslationactivityismainlybasedontheemergenceofLatin