Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press
Vol. X/2001 No. 1
Oľga Kovačičová
The study explores determination of poetic translation by not only the extent of creativity and talent of the translator, but also by the horizon of reader's expectations shaped by traditions of "his" cultural environment, "his" literary past and by previous experience with reception of "the foreign".
Focus is on the problem of functional equivalent of rhythm in poetic text translation, demonstrated on the examples of two translations of A. S. Pushkin created in different times and through different poetics (J. Kráľ 1846 and J. Zambor 2000). There are many aspects playing important role in rhythm perception of poetic translation, the following were analyzed closely:
1. differences in phonology of Russian and Slovak,
2. differences in versologic systems of Slovak and Russian literature having different impact on the horizon of reader‘s expectations,
3. differences in rhythmic character of syllabic and syllabotonic versological system in the context of Slovak a Russian literature,
4. translation tradition in the context of both literatures.
KeyWords: Translation Analysis. Poetry. A. S. Pushkin. Rhytmical Aspects of Translation-reader's Expectations.
Address
Doc. PhDr. Oľga Kovačičová, CSc.
Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV
Konventná 13
813 64 Bratislava
Braňo Hochel
Literary criticism as generally understood in Middle and East-European context deals with literary works, process of creation and the connected phenomena. Sometimes, however, literary criticism becomes introverted, self-centered; criticism itself becomes its subject. This is usually the case, when there are discrepancies between (new, changed) literary or social situation and critical praxis, such approach reflects the need to clarify criteria in their relationship to literature, artists, and society.
This study focuses on one specific area of literary criticism, translation critique. Slovakia seems to be similar to many other cultures in that there can be observed a lack of translation critique partially substituted by translation theory. There has been, however, a shift in evaluation of Slovak translation critique in last decades.
The first part of the study deals with the status of translation critique compared with status of Slovak literature criticism. This self reflective approach is based on empiric research of 576 reviews of foreign works published in Romboid and 427 reviews published in Slovenské pohľady in the period between 1970 and 1980. Second part of the study, based on analysis of a different set of texts, describes the functioning of translation critique in praxis, testing the theoretical postulates created in the first part of the study.
KeyWords: Literary Criticism. Self-reflexivity. Translation. Status of Translation Critique. Empiric Analysis.
Address
Doc. PhDr. Braňo Hochel, CSc.
Filozofická fakulta
Unverzity Komenského
Gondova 2
818 01 Bratislava
Libuša Vajdová
The miscellany Il Mediterraneo. Una rette interletteraria (Rome 2000), a result of cooperation of Italian, Slovak, Czech and Russian literary scholars offers an important occasion for contemplation. Its coordinators A. Gnisci and D. Ďurišin have conceived it as a demonstration of contemporary thought in comparative studies as well as of changes in the approach towards foreign cultures and literatures. A. Gnisci presents the concept of cultural decolonisation in the sense of a new tool of comparison and D. Ďurišin the concept of centrism based on his own systematics and the principle of activity of the receiving environment. The miscellany is interesting especially thanks to outstanding studies analysing the relationship to the Mediterranean space in many Central and East European literatures.
These studies, however, also reveal some problem points of the theoretical background, for example the ambivalence of the idea of cultural decolonialisation, uncertainties concerning historic forms of the colonisation process as well as the limited scope, or even problematic character of the concept of centrism. This text tries to define some of the problem areas of theoretical background following the conclusions of individual studies, often in contrast to the theoretical postulates. Following conceptual fields are analysed: geography (role of geography as a natural science in literary analysis), decolonisation (in various historic forms with positive and negative results, mix of cultures), eurocentrism (demonization of the concept built by not only eurocentrics but also by those who oppose it today, eurocentrism as one manifestation of the idea of literary process), centrism (a concept including organisation into a centre and a periphery and their evaluation), comparatistics/comparative studies (a method whose very name foregrounds one method of research and excludes others, which it lacks and thus finds itself in a permanent crisis).
KeyWords: Literature. Literary Studies. Comparative Studies. Interliterarity.
Address
PhDr. Libuša Vajdová, CSc.
Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV
Konventná 13
813 64 Bratislava
Adam Bžoch
The article deals with the so-called modernization of literary scholarship through cultural sciences. This growing trend of the last twenty years was strongly inspired by cultural and social anthropology as well as by modernizing trends in art history and historiography, which were started by the Annales school. The focus is on the programmatic publication of H. Bohme and K. R. Scherpe (1996) summarizing most crucial impulses for literary scholarship in reinventing the question of condition humana. Apart from general works of cultural anthropology of C. Levi-Strauss and C. Geertz the study also deals with intersections of studies in anthropology, historiography and history of theatre (S. Greenblatt) as well as with non-linguistic understanding of language, which has opened new possibilities in exploring literature as a universal means of communication.
KeyWords: Literary Scholarship. Cultural Sciences. Culture and Social Anthropology. Non Linguistic Understanding of Language.
Address
Adam Bžoch, PhD.
Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV
Konventná 13
813 64 Bratislava
Michaela Chorváthová
The seminal influence of Clifford Geertz on wide range of social sciences is demonstrated in the collection of essays called "The Fate of 'Culture'. Geertz and Beyond", which includes articles by renowned experts in anthropology, history and literary criticism. This article briefly summarizes Geertz‘ conception of culture, its problematic aspects and the way they were dealt with in various essays of "The Fate of 'Culture'". Special attention is devoted to S. Greenblatt and the method of New Historicism, which offers a different view on the possibilities of literary scholarship. Greenblatt sets out to claim texts, previously thought to be the exclusive field of anthropology and ethnography (obscure, "crude" textual fragments) for literary criticism. It is in the essay "The Touch of the Real" that Greenblatt stretches his concept to its limits, postulating that the correlation of seemingly unconnectable pieces of writing (Hamlet, 1600; Bowman's account of a ghost sighting, 1668) can create the effect of "estrangement" of notoriously known and thoroughly researched texts.
KeyWords: Clifford Geertz. Social Sciences. Anthropology. Literary Scholarship. New Historicism.
Address
Mgr. Michaela Chorváthová
Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV
Konventná 13
813 64 Bratislava
Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press