Jiří Levý'sThe Art of Translation: from the Genesis of the Original to its Reception in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking World
Abstract
In this paper, we try to describe the genesis of Jiři Levý's groundbreaking work The Art of Translation(1963) from the early 1950s, as well as the vicissitudes of its internationalreception until the present day. The first Czech edition of the work was preceded by a whole series of interdisciplinary investigations recorded in articles, manuals, lectures and handwritten notes.
This process was prolonged in the German and Russian translations of the work (1969 and 1974), in which Levý collaborated closely with his translators making adaptations and modifications of various kinds to bring the work closer to its recipients in the target cultures. In particular, the German translation was important because it served to spread Levý's ideas abroad and also because it acted, together with the Czech original, as a pattern in the second Czech edition of the work, prepared by Karel Hausenblas in 1983, which all subsequent editions have taken asmodel.
For a long time, Levý's work remained unknown to international audiences for linguistic and political reasons, among others. However, in the last decade we have witnessed a revival of interest in his theoretical conception -evidenced in the appearance of new translations-which is considered now as a precursor of contemporary theoretical vistas.