Apart from Vzdálené tóny naděje…

Apart from the authors that were translated and published in Vzdálené tóny naděje, some of Samuel Beckett’s poems, for example, were translated in this particular period. In 1997 “Báseň – une poeme – a poem” was translated by Martin Pokorný and published in Literární noviny 8, no. 40. In 1999 Jiří Pelán translated Beckett’s Poémes as Básně from French, and added an afterword. It was published by Triáda, Praha. For his translation Pelán received a major national award in 2002 (Státní cena za překlad).¹⁹³ In the same year some of the poems from the collection were published in Lidové noviny 12, no. 5 in Pelán’s translation, such as the five-line lyric “They Come”¹⁹⁴ (“Přicházejí”), “Assumption”¹⁹⁵ (“Nanebevstoupení”) or “The Fly”¹⁹⁶ (“Moucha”).

In 2003 two poems by Eavan Boland were chosen for translation by Daniela Furthnerová and these were published in Souvislosti 14, no. 1 / 2 as a part of the anthology Jizvy na něžných místech. The poems “That the Science of Cartography is Limited” (“Že věda kartografie není bez hranic”) and “The Necessity for Irony” (“Nutná ironie”) from the collection In a Time of Violence: the Poems were included. In the year 2010 the following poems in translation by Jana Štěpánková and Barbora Holková were published in Plav, no. 1, under the summoning title Mise Éire (named after one of the most famous Boland’s poems):

193 "Jiří Pelán,“ Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 30^th November 2015 http://www.ff.cuni.cz/fakulta/o-fakulte/mluvici-hlavy/pelan/.

194 Cohn, ABC 95.

195 Cohn, ABC 7.

196 Cohn, ABC 97.

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“Woman in Kitchen,” and “We Were Neutral in War” (“Za války jsme byli neutrální”) from the collection Outside History,¹⁹⁷ “Mise Eire” (“Mise Éire”) from the collection The Journey and Other Poems, “The Pomegranate” (“Granátové jablko”) from the collection In the Time of Violence: the Poems and “Anorexic” (“Anorektička”) from the collection In Her Own Image.¹⁹⁸ While Boland published a significant number of poetry collections, only a few poems from the whole lot were published in translation in the Czech Lands, and moreover, these were published only separately in various journals and magazines. No collection of hers has been translated yet.

The Irish writer Seamus Deane belongs to the most prominent personalities in Ireland.

Not only he is a teacher at the Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame Centre of Dublin, but he is also a member of Royal Irish Academy, one of the founders of the Field Day Theatre Company, the editor of the Penguin Joyce and the author of several books, such as A Short History of Irish Literature or Essays in Modern Irish Literature. He is also the editor of Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (three volumes) and he has written four poetry collections and a novel so far.¹⁹⁹ Rather surprisingly, only a few poems and the novel have been translated into Czech; in 1997 “Fording the River” from the collection Rumours²⁰⁰ and “Roots” from the collection Selected Poems²⁰¹ were published in Souvislosti, no. 3 / 4 in translation by Štěpán Nosek, and in 2000 Kateřina Hilská translated the novel Reading in the Dark as

197 Eavan Boland, Outside History (UK: Carcanet, 1990).

198 Eavan Boland, In Her Own Image (UK: Arlen House, 1980).

199 "Seamus Deane,“ Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame / Keough School of Global Affairs, 30^th November 2015 http://irishstudies.nd.edu/faculty/faculty-fellows/seamus-deane/.

200 Seamus Deane, "Fording the River,“ Rumours (UK: Dolmen Press, 1997) 10.

201 Seamus Deane, "Roots,“ Collected Poems (UK: Gallery, 1988) 21.

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Tápání ve tmě²⁰² and it was published by Aurora, Praha. Otherwise the author remains rather unknown with regard to the number of translations published in the Czech periodicals and the general awareness of the reading public.

As was mentioned, Vona Groarke was translated a great deal more than other female Irish poets in this period (or, it can be said that she was translated more than all other Irish poets in general, with the exception of Seamus Heaney). In 2004 her collection of poems Vlastní cestou was edited and translated by Daniela Furthnerová (e.g. “Sunflowers” –

“Slunečnice” or “The Magic Touch” – “Magický dotek” from the collection Flight and Earlier Poems²⁰³ were included). In 2005 a few poems were translated by Daniela Furthnerová and published in Souvislosti 16, no. 2. All the poems originated in the collection Flight and Earlier Poems: “The Unsaid” (“Nevyřčené”), “Drama” and “Flight” (“Let”). In 2007 more poems were published in Souvislosti 18, no. 1, under the title Způsob světla, such as “The Boat”²⁰⁴ translated as “Loďka,” “The Couch”²⁰⁵ translated as “Gauč” or “The Local Accent”²⁰⁶ translated as “Místní přízvuk,” all from the collection Juniper Street. In 2009 another small compilation of poems, translated by Daniela Furthnerová-Theinová, was published in Souvislosti 20, no. 2 under the title Počasí jak hrom. Again, almost all the poems originated in Juniper Street: “The Annotated House”²⁰⁷ (“Dům s anotacemi”), “The

202 Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark (UK: Vintage International, 1998).

203 Vona Groarke, "Sunflowers,“ Flight and Earlier Poems (UK: Wake Forest University Press, 2004).

204 Vona Groarke, "The Boat,“ Juniper Street (UK: Gallery Press, 2006) 16.

205 Groarke, JS 14.

206 Groarke, JS 18.

207 Groarke, JS 55.

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Return”²⁰⁸ (“Návrat”) or “Call Waiting”²⁰⁹ may serve as an example. In 2011 Daniela Theinová translated Groarke’s poetry collection Spindrift,²¹⁰ which was published by OPUS, Zblov. It can be therefore said that Groarke received more attention than Boland; two of her poetry collections were translated and published. However, the reception by the media and the reading public is still difficult to determine, because Groarke’s poems were mostly published individually in magazines and journals. Only Spindrift received a critical appraisal; the publication was commented upon in a review in the magazine Tvar, and the translation also received the award “Stipendium Hany Žantovské” by Obec překladatelů.

While listing poetry translated between 1993 and 2014, James Joyce collection Chamber Music,²¹¹ from which a few poems were translated and published every now and then, cannot be omitted. In 1995 13 poems were translated by Daniel Bína and these were published in Tvar 6, no. 17. The whole collection was translated by Petr Mikeš in 2000, as Chamber Music – Komorní hudba. The afterword was written by Matthew Sweeney. In 2006 a mini-collection of poetry was published in Plav 11, no. 37, under the title Ennáct bébásní (from the original Pomes Penyeach, published in Paris in 1927). It was translated by Jan Losenický, who also wrote the afterword. With this translation Losenický won the competition organized by Obec překladatelů - Překladatelská soutěž Jiřího Levého.²¹² Among other, the poems “Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba”²¹³ (translated as “Vojenské čluny

208 Groarke, JS 26.

209 Groarke, JS 31.

210 Vona Groarke, Spindrift (UK: Gallery Press, 2009).

211 Joyce, CM

212 Stanislav Rubáš, "Soutěž Jiřího Levého 2006,“ Plav 2, no. 11 http://plavrevue.splav.cz/2006/plav-2006-10-06.pdf.

213 Fargnoli 304.

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v San Sabbě”), “A Flower Given to my Daughter”²¹⁴ (translated as “Květina pro mou dcerku”) or “She Weeps Over Rahoon”²¹⁵ (translated as “Pláč nad Rahoonem”) appeared in the collection.

Seamus Heaney became famous in the Czech Lands especially in the year 1995, when he received the Nobel Prize for literature: the first translations from the period between 1993 and 2014 appeared in this specific year. These were Zdeněk Hron’s translations of a few poems, that appeared in Tvar 6, no. 17, 1995: among others, “Song”²¹⁶ (“Píseň”), “Oracle”²¹⁷ (“Věštba”), “Cow in Calf”²¹⁸ (“Stelná kráva”) or “Funeral Rites”²¹⁹ (“Pohřební rituál”). In the same year ten poems were translated by Petr Dudek and published in Lidové noviny 8, no. 234 under the title Glanmore Sonnets.²²⁰ In 1996 the poem “Exposure”²²¹ (“Expozice”) was translated by Miroslav Holub (who, along with Hron, soon became one of the leading Heaney’s translators) and published in Nová přítomnost, no. 7. In 1999 the collection Wintering Out²²² was translated by Hron, who also wrote the afterword, as Přezimování pod širým nebem. Several interviews with Heaney were also translated into Czech, among others

“Hodnota mého dětství” (2002, Magdaléna Platzová transl., Heaney and Karl Miller, Lidové noviny 13, no. 23), “K životu může stačit jedna báseň” (2002, Hana Ullmanová transl.,

214 Fargnoli 132.

215 Derek Attridge ed., Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) 218.

216 Seamus Heaney, "Song,“ New Selected Poems 1966-1987 (London: Faber & Faber, 2009).

217 Heaney, NSP

218 Heaney, NSP

219 Heaney, NSP

220 Seamus Heaney and Cecil King, Glanmore Sonnets (UK: Edition Beck, 1978).

221 Heaney, NSP

222 Heaney, WO

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Heaney and Ullmanová, Mladá fronta Dnes 13, no. 115), “Poezie má sílu v krizových situacích” (2002, Ladislav Nagy transl., Heaney and Nagy, Lidové noviny 15, no. 125) or

“Ztracený, nešťastný a doma” (2006, Mariana Housková transl., Heaney and Seamus Deane, Souvislosti 17, no. 4). In 2002 Wintering Out was re-published in translation by Zdeněk Hron by BB art, Praha, and in 2006 the following poems were translated by Daniel Soukup and published in Souvislosti 17, no. 4 under the title Kde náhoda se chytla do přesnosti: “Světliny I.-XII.,” “Scény,” “Přeplavby” and “Odklony.” It can be said that with regard to reception, Seamus Heaney is one of a few poets that gained significant attention in the Czech Lands, and one of a few that is generally known among the reading public, not only because of that he won a Nobel Prize (which, of course, influenced his success here as well), but also because of the number of translations that were published in journals, magazines and in a book form. He is also studied regularly and extensively by various scholars.

In 2003 two poems by Medbh McGuckian were published in Souvislosti 14, no. 1 / 2 as a part of the mini-anthology Jizvy na něžných místech in translation by Daniela Furthnerová. These were “Elegy for an Irish Speaker”²²³ (“Elegie pro toho, kdo mluví irsky”) and “Smoke”²²⁴ (“Kouř”). In 2010 a bilingual poem “Dream in a Train / Sen ve vlaku”²²⁵ was translated by Daniela Furthnerová-Theinová and published in Plav, no. 1, under the title Výběr z moderní irské poezie. McGuckian is one of a few modern Irish poets that were translated also in the previous period, though her works received less attention than the works

223 Jane Dowson and Alice Entwistle eds., A History of Twentieth-Century British Women Poetry (UK:

Cambridge University Press, 2005) 300.

224 Medbh McGuckian, "Smoke,“ The Flower Master and Other Poems (UK: Gallery, 1993).

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of Heaney, or, to return to modern female writing, Vona Groarke. Her poems were mostly published in magazines and journals and were hardly ever reviewed, though she belongs to one of the most famous modern Irish female writers.

In 2007 Paul Muldoon’s collection of poems called The Wishbone²²⁶ was translated by Petr Mikeš as Kost přání, and it was published in a bilingual edition. The afterword was written by Matthew Sweeney and it was published by Periplum, Olomouc.

In 2003 two of Eiléan Ní Chulleanáin’s poems were translated by Daniela Furthnerová as “Londýn” and “Obraz Pygmalion,” as a part of the mini-anthology Jizvy na něžných místech, and in Souvislosti 14. no. 1 / 2.

The poetry of Justin Quinn gained significance at the end of the 20^th century because he started publishing as late as in the 90s. Quinn, the Dublin native, is one of the founders and editors of the magazine focusing on Irish poetry, Metre. Living in the Czech Republic, Prague, he lectures at the Department of English, Pedagogical Faculty of the University of West Bohemia and at the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures at Charles University in Prague. Apart from that, he is also a translator from English to Czech – he has already translated poems by the Czech poet Petr Borkovec into English (From the Interior, published in 2008) and currently he is translating the poetry of Bohuslav Reynek (a selection

226 Paul Muldoon, The Wishbone (UK: Gallery Books, 1984).

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of poems is to be published in 2016). He is also a poet: six poetry collections have been published by far.²²⁷

A few interviews with him were held, translated and published in the period between 1993 and 2014, among others “Mezi Dublinem a Prahou, Nerudou a Yeatsem: České paneláky očima irského básníka,” translated and edited by Marek Toman and published in Nové knihy 39, no. 8., 1999, or “S Justinem Quinnem nad vybranými problémy irské poezie,” which was translated and edited by Hana Ulmanová and published in Vzdálené tóny naděje (2000) and also in Nové knihy 39, no. 49 / 50, 1999.

Several Quinn’s articles and essays upon contemporary poetry were also published in the period between 1993 and 2014, which might have supported the reception of the specific authors, especially Seamus Heaney’s, as will be visible from the following list. In 1996

“Seamus Heaney a současná česká poezie” was published in translation by Tereza Límanová by Literární noviny 7, no. 1. In 2001 the article discussing the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop was translated by Límanová under the title “Umění ztrácet” and published in Souvislosti 12, no. 2.

In the same year “Zahrada svět (Poezie Louise Glückové)” was translated by Štěpán Nosek and published in Souvislosti 12, no. 3 / 4. In 2004 the study called “Stopař Thomase Gunna (discussing Gunn’s poetry)” was translated by Petr Onufer and published in Souvislosti 15, no. 1. In the same year Quinn’s study “Strážný anděl Jorie Grahamové” (upon the poetry of Jorie Graham) was translated by Mariana Housková and it was published in Souvislosti 15, no. 1. Finally, in 2006 Quinn’s article “Dvakrát se Seamusem Heaneym,” translated by an unknown translator, was published in Souvislosti 17, no. 4.

Some of Quinn’s poems were translated and published individually in different magazines, for example, “Bathroom”²²⁸ (“Koupelna”) from the collection Privacy was translated by

227 "Justin Quinn,“ Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures – the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, 1^st December 2015 http://ualk.ff.cuni.cz/staff/justin-quinn.

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Marek Toman and published in Nové knihy 39, no. 39. The poem was re-published under the same translation in 2006, in Listy 36, no. 5. In 2003 a few poems, such as “Laurel”²²⁹ (“Vavřín”), were translated by Zdeněk Hron and published in Souvislosti 14, no. 1 / 2. In 2005 a series of poems from Quinn’s collection Vlny a stromy (Waves and Trees²³⁰) was translated by Tomáš Fürstenzeller and published in Souvislosti 16, no. 4, under the titles “Tráva,”

(“Grass”²³¹) “1. leden,” (“January First”²³²) “Tetování,” (“Tattoo”²³³) “Slunovrat,”

(“Solstice”²³⁴) and “Bukový úsek” (“Beech Section”²³⁵). The originals of the poems were also included, as well as the additional, extensive note about the author. In 2009 a collection of poems appeared in Souvislosti 20, no. 2. under the title The Months (Měsíce). These were translated by Daniel Soukup, Mariana Housková, Petr Onufer, Štěpán Nosek, Jiří Pelán and Petr Borkovec in a bilingual edition. Waves and Trees was published as a whole in 2009, in translation by Tomáš Fürstenzeller, by the publishing house Opus, Zblov.

Generally it can be said that except the poetry collections in a book form, Quinn’s works were mostly published in the magazine Souvislosti, thus increasing the positive reception of Quinn in the Czech Lands.

William Butler Yeats’s poetry became a focus of the translators in this period a great deal more than in the previous periods. It must be said that not only his poetry was translated

228 Justin Quinn, Privacy (UK: Carcanet, 1999).

229 Justin Quinn, Fuselage (UK: Gallery Books, 2002) 13.

230 Justin Quinn, Waves and Trees (UK: Gallery Press, 2001).

231 Quinn, WT 43.

232 Quinn, WT 31.

233 Quinn, WT 62.

234 Quinn, WT 70.

235 Quinn, WT 40.

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and published, but also his prosaic works, such as Essays²³⁶ (Eseje, Jaroslav Franke, re-printed in 1995), Discoveries (Objevy, Franke, 1995), the mythological collection Stories of Red Hanrahan²³⁷ (Příběhy ryšavého Hanrahana, Franke/Skalický, 1995), Rosa Alchemica²³⁸ (Králova moudrost, Franke/Skalický, 1995) or the contemplative work The Celtic Twilight²³⁹ (Keltský soumrak, Andrea Poláčková and Tomáš Grünfeld, 1996). Among translators that focused on Yeats, Martin Hilský (e.g. “The Second Coming”²⁴⁰ – “Druhý příchod,” 1995), Jaroslav Franke (e.g. “Fergus and the Druid”²⁴¹ – “Fergus a druid,” 1966) or Yveta Shanfeldová (e.g. “Her Anxiety”²⁴² – “Její obavy,” 1999) can be mentioned.

It is to be said that the academic work related to Yeats, which formed one part of the extensive list of translations and criticisms of Irish literature into Czech and Slovak, contains 122 primary and secondary items, which points at the poet’s indubitable popularity. The list contains both poetry and prose, as well as non-fictional work and a few plays. The only period in which Yeats was not translated extensively was between the years 1940 and 1950, possibly because of that the “repressive communist government in Czechoslovakia that was not an auspicious time for such an elitist poet.”²⁴³

236 William Butler Yeats, Essays (Macmillan and Company, 1924).

237 William Butler Yeats, Stories of Red Hanrahan (UK: Courier Corporation, 2013).

238 Yeats, SRH

239 William Butler Yeats, The Celtic Twilight (UK: BookRix, 2015).

240 Robert Detweiler and David Jasper eds., Religion and Literature: A Reader (UK: Westminster John Know Press, 2000) 121.

241 William Butler Yeats, "Fergus and the Druid,“ Selected Poems and Four Plays (UK: Simon and Schuster, 2011) 7-8.

242 Yeats, SPFP

243 Jochum, TRWBYE 258.

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CHAPTER 6: Conclusion

To conclude, it must be said that the reception of the translations from Irish literature differed significantly in each individual period. In the post-war years (1945-1948) no censorship was yet applied on foreign literature and the publishers had a relative freedom with regard to publishing the translations from Irish literature. As to dramatic works that were published in the period between 1945 and 1948, it must be said that George Bernard Shaw played one of the most significant roles as his plays were translated extensively, and also John Millington Synge gained indubitable success. Considering prosaic writers, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels were re-published several times. Finally, William Butler Yeats’ and Louis MacNeice’s poetry was often translated in this period.

In the period between 1949 and 1968 several events happened that might have influenced the translating and publishing of foreign literature on the field of politics, mostly in the year 1968. The year 1950 was an extreme in that not a single translation from Irish literature was made and published (it is a question if the socio-political occurrences of that era had any impact on that). At that time censorship had been already applied on the authors from

“enemy countries” and therefore the range of authors changed according to the preferences of

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the governing party. “Wrong ideas” were strictly prohibited, and all publishing houses became the property of the state, so the regime could influence the eventual choice of the authors to be published. However, as an exceptional occurrence, a magazine Světová literature was founded, publishing all kinds of foreign authors in translation.

The amount of George Bernard Shaw’s plays even increased, possibly because of his canonical status and even more importantly, his political orientation. Over twenty translations / re-translations were published in this particular period. Another canonical author, Oscar Wilde, was also translated in a great deal, as is visible from the list of works that appeared in print; again, it could be explained with relation to his canonical status and that he was considered “harmless” by the regime. Among other canonical authors that were re/translated and re/published, R. B. Sheridan or J. M. Synge can be named. Sean O’Casey’s plays also appeared in print, though he did not gain much popularity in the Czech Lands because of the reasons already explained in two previous chapters; with the exception of one one-act play, he was not acclaimed by wide readership. Most importantly, Samuel Beckett’s works appeared in print, though as late as in 1963. Among others, Endgame, Waiting for Godot or the collection of short stories Stories and Texts for Nothing can be named. However, not alike other aforementioned dramatics, his plays were not staged at all, with two exceptions from two different periods (1964 and later, in 1970). With regard to prosaic works, several more re-publications of Gulliver’s Travels were made, as was quite common in most of the periods, and Sterne’s and Goldsmith’s works re-appeared in print. In this period, though, a

“controversial” author James Joyce was translated and published despite the ambiguous nature of his works; and furthermore, since 1962 he was heavily explained by and discussed among various commentators. The short story writers did not cause a great stir among Czech audience; nevertheless, a few of them were published, such as Sean O’Faolain. Moreover, a compilation of Irish short stories, Ni králi ni císaři, was translated and edited by Aloys

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Skoumal. Finally, it must be said that in this period not much poetry was actually translated and published: only a few poems by Yeats, Joyce, MacNeice and Day-Lewis appeared in print.

The year 1968 formed a millstone between the two periods; on 20^th August Czechoslovakia was invaded by Warsaw Pact troops, which influenced both politics and culture, more specifically the publication of translations from foreign literature, because more restrictions followed. The period between 1969 and 1989 subdued to the phenomenon called

“normalization” (later “real socialism”), which became a symbol of even more severe

“normalization” (later “real socialism”), which became a symbol of even more severe

In document UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE (Stránka 151-194)