Catalan Literature in Czech after 1989: From Clinical Death to Promising Future
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | The fall of the communist regime and the consequent bankruptcy of the state-run publishing house Odeon represent a turning point in the until then regular and consolidated introduction of Catalan-language literature to the Czech readership: only one Catalan-literature book was published in the following decade. In addition, it is worth noting that the book was translated indirectly from Spanish and its aim was other than to present Catalan culture. The newly established Czech free market did not favour non-major language literatures in general. As for literature in Catalan, its position was furthermore disadvantaged by absence of systematic government-level support, both economic and institutional, from Catalan-speaking countries and/or regions until the Institut Ramon Llull was constituted in 2002 in order to "promote Catalan language and culture internationally." However, the real milestone in the post-Velvet Revolution reception was the establishment - in 1991 - of the Lectorat de catala (today's Centre Carlemany de Llengua Catalana) at Charles University in Prague. This centre, run by the Government of Andorra, has not only propagated literature and culture in general but has also played an irreplaceable role in giving birth to a new generation of translators. This paper analyses the circumstances under which Catalan-writing authors have been translated into Czech, focusing on translators' role and motivations, publishers' interests and preferences, the importance of economic and institutional support, and other factors. Despite the fact that the Czech translations from the Catalan language after 1989 are, generally speaking, accidental and predominantly isolated one-time projects, the last decade has been - thanks, in particular, to the remarkable number of participating translators - the most prolific period in the 130-year-long Czech reception of literature written in Catalan. |