Anton Popovič’s contribution to translation studies

Jaroslav Špirk
Charles University, Prague
Abstract

The present paper explores the contribution of the Slovak scholar Anton Popovič (1933–1984) to translation studies from the end of the 1960s until the beginning of the 1980s. It mentions the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of Popovič’s work (particularly Jiří Levý and František Miko), briefly analyzes Popovič’s most important publications within the field of translation studies, and discusses criticisms as well as inspirations of his conception of translation. The paper concludes with an evaluation of Popovič’s role in developing the field of Czechoslovak and international translation studies, most importantly of descriptive translation studies and the manipulation school.

Keywords:
Table of contents

Anton Popovič is considered by many as one of the founding fathers of what is today known as descriptive translation studies and as the manipulation school. Yet, little is known about his work outside the Czech and Slovak Republics except for his Dictionary for the Analysis of Literary Translation and a few articles in English and German, which are very difficult to obtain. Today, Popovič is being rediscovered, as attested to by the recent Italian translation of his key monograph, Teória umeleckého prekladu [Theory of Artistic Translation]. This article aims to contribute to this opening of curtains which still exist between the East and the West, no longer due to political constraints, but—ironically for Translation Studies—due to linguistic constraints.

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[ p. 24 ]Short bibliography of Anton Popoviè

Monographs by Anton Popoviè (in Slovak, chronologically)

Popovič, Anton
1961 Ruská literatúra na Slovensku v rokoch 1863–1875 [Russian Literature in Slovakia in the years 1863–1875]. Bratislava: VSAV*.Google Scholar
1968 Preklad a výraz [Translation and Expression]. Bratislava: VSAV*.Google Scholar
1970 Štrukturalizmus v slovenskej vede (1931–1949): Dejiny, texty, bibliografia [Structuralism in Slovak Science from 1931 to 1949: History, Texts, Bibliography]. Martin: Matica slovenská.Google Scholar
1971 Poetika umeleckého prekladu. Proces a text [Poetics of Artistic Translation. Process and Text.]. Bratislava: Tatran.Google Scholar
1974 Umelecký preklad v ČSSR: Výskum. Bibliografia [Artistic Translation in Czechoslovakia: Research. Bibliography]. Martin: Matica slovenská.Google Scholar
1975a Problémy literárnej metakomunikácie: Teória metatextu [Problems of Literary Metacommunication: Theory of Metatext.]. Nitra: KLKEM**.Google Scholar
1975b Teória umeleckého prekladu: Aspekty textu a literárnej metakomunikácie [Theory of Artistic Translation: Aspects of Text and Literary Metacommunication]. Bratislava: Tatran.Google Scholar
Miko, František – Popovič, Anton
1978 Tvorba a recepcia: Estetická komunikácia a metakomunikácia [Creation and Reception: Aesthetic Communication and Metacommunication]. Bratislava: Tatran.Google Scholar
Popovič, Anton – Liba, Peter – Zajac, Peter – Zsilka, Tibor
1981 Interpretácia umeleckého textu. Bratislava: SPN.Google Scholar
Popovič, Anton
et al. 1983a Originál/preklad: interpretačná terminológia [Original/Translation: Interpretation Terminology]. Bratislava: Tatran.Google Scholar
1983b Komunikačné projekty literárnej vedy [Communicative Projects of Literary Studies]. Nitra: Pedagogická fakulta.Google Scholar

Translations of Popoviè’s Monographs (chronologically)

Popovič, Anton
1980a A műfordítás elmélete. Translated by Tibor Zsilka. Bratislava: Madách Könyvkiadó; Budapest: Gondolat. (Hungarian translation of Teória umeleckého prekladu, 1975b)Google Scholar
1980b Problemy chudožestvennogo perevoda. Translated by I. A. Bernštejnová, I. S. Čerňavskaja. Moscow: Vysšaja škola. (Russian translation of Teória umeleckého prekladu, 1975b)Google Scholar
1980c Poetika umetničegog prevoda. Proces i tekst. Translated by Branka Rom. Rukovet 1980, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 459–562. (Serbo-Croatian translation of Teória umeleckého prekladu, 1975b)Google Scholar
1987 Yazin çevirisi terimleri sözlügü. Karantay, Suat. Salman, Yurdanur. 1st edition. Cagaloglu, Istanbul: Metis Yayinlari. (Turkish translation of Dictionary for the Analysis of Literary Translation, 1976).Google Scholar
2006 L’arte della traduzione. Aspetti metodologici—La comunicazione traduttiva. Milano: Editore Ulrico Hoepli. ISBN 8820335115. (Italian translation of Teória umeleckého prekladu, 1975b/1980b: translated from Russian by Bruno Osimo; co-translated from Slovak by Daniela Laudani)Google Scholar
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Popoviè’s publications in English and German (chronologically)

Popovič, Anton
1967 “Zur Problematik der literarischen Synthesen”. Literatur und Kritik, Oktober 1967, Heft 18, S. 481–486.Google Scholar
1967 “Die theoretischen Probleme der Übersetzung”. Literatur und Kritik, Dezember 1967, Heft 20, S. 611–617.Google Scholar
1968 “On the Concept ‘Shift of Expression’ in Translation”. Slavica Slovaca, 3 1968, no. 2, pp. 164–170.Google Scholar
1968 “Translation Analysis and Literary History”. Babel, 14 1968, no. 2, pp. 68–76.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1970 “The Concept ‘Shift of Expression’ in Translation Analysis”. In: Holmes, James S.—Haan de, Frans—Popovič, Anton (eds.) 1970 The Nature of Translation: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Literary Translation. International Federation of Translators. Mouton, The Hague, Paris, Bratislava: VSAV*, pp. 78–87.Google Scholar
1971 “Die grundlegende Bedeutung von Jiří Levýs Werk”. Slavica Slovaca, 6 1971, no. 4, pp. 406–409.Google Scholar
1972 “Die Stellung der Übersetzungstheorie im System der Literaturwissenschaft”. Slavica Slovaca, 7 1972, no. 4, S. 378–395.Google Scholar
1973 “Zum Status der Übersetzungskritik”. Babel, 19 1973, no. 4, S. 161–166.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1975 “The Activities of Slovak Translators and Slovak Translation Studies”. In: Neohelicon: Acta Comparationis Litterarum Universarum III. Budapest, The Hague, Paris: Akadémiai Kiadó, Mouton 1975, pp. 107–112.Google Scholar
1976 Dictionary for the Analysis of Literary Translation. Edmonton: University of Alberta, Department of Comparative Literature.Google Scholar
1976 “Aspects of Metatext”. Canadian Review of Comparative Literature III 1976, no. 3, pp. 225–235.Google Scholar
1977 “Literary Synthesis”. Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, Printemps 1977, pp. 117–132.Google Scholar
1977 “Translation as Communication”. In: Translation as Comparison. Dedicated to the 8th Congress of FIT, 12–18 May 1977, Montréal, Canada. Research material no. 5, Anton Popovič (ed.), Nitra: KLKEM,** pp. 5–24.Google Scholar
1978 “Rezeptionsforschung und Literaturkommunikationstheorie”. In: Güstrower Beiträge: Wissenschaftliche Schriften der Pädagogischen Hochschule Güstrow 1978, Heft 3, S. 103–113.Google Scholar
1978 “The Contemporary State of the Theory of Literary Translation”. Babel, 24 1978, no. 3–4, pp. 111–113.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1978 “The Present State of Translation Theory”. In: La traduction, une profession: Actes du VIIIe Congrès mondial de la FIT, Montréal 1977. Ottawa (Canada) 1978, pp. 48–54.Google Scholar
1979 “Tradition in Literary Communication”. In: The Communicational Aspect of Literary Tradition. Reseach material no. 6, Anton Popovič (ed.), Nitra: KLKEM**, pp. 7–18.Google Scholar
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Popovič, Anton. Dénes, Imrich (Imre)
1979 Communicational aspect of literary tradition. Nitra: KLKEM**.Google Scholar
Popovič, Anton
1980 “Translation as Communication”. In: (Anthology of studies on translation) Tel Aviv 1980, pp. 45–61.Google Scholar
1980 “The Concept ‘Shift of Expression’ in Translation Analysis”. In: (Anthology of studies on translation) Tel Aviv 1980, pp. 165–174.Google Scholar
(ed.) 1981 Dictionary of Literary Museological Communication. Wörterbuch literaturmusealer Kommunikation (English, German, Russian). Dolný Kubín: Acta Musei litterarii Pauli Országh-Hviezdoslav.Google Scholar
1981 “Communicational Aspect in Slovak Literary Scholarship”. In: Language, Literature and Meaning II: Current Trends in Literary Research. Linguistic and Literary Studies in Eastern Europe. John Odmark, Amsterdam: John Benjamins B. V. 1981, pp. 55–108.Google Scholar
1981 “Inter-semiotic—Inter-literary Translation”. In: Actes du VIIIe Congrès de l’Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó 1981, pp. 763–765.Google Scholar
1981 “Übersetzung als Kommunikation”. In: WILLS, Wolfram (ed.) 1981 Übersetzungswissenschaft: Wege der Forschung. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ISBN 3534076133.Google Scholar
1982 Translation in the literary process. Dedicated to the 10th Congress of ICLA, August 22–29, 1982, New York, USA. International Comparative Literature Association. Research material no. 11, Anton Popovič (ed.), Nitra: KLKEM**.

Some reactions outside Czechoslovakia (alphabetically)

Baker, Mona
(ed.) 1998 Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415255171.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bassnett-McGuire, Susan
1980 Translation Studies. London: Routledge; New York: Methuen. ISBN 0415065283.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beylard-Ozeroff, Ann, Králová, Jana & Moser-Mercer, Barbara
(eds.) 1998 Translators’ Strategies and Creativity: Selected Papers from the 9th International Conference on Translation and Interpreting, Prague, September, 1995: In Honor of Jiří Levý and Anton Popovič. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027216304.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Broeck, Raymond van den
1978 “The Concept of Equivalence in Translation Theory: Some Critical Reflections”. In: Holmes, James S.—Lambert, José –Broeck, Raymond van den (eds.) 1978 Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies. Leuven: ACCO, pp. 29–47.Google Scholar
Broeck, Raymond van den—Lefevere, André
1979 Uitnodiging tot de vertaalwetenschap. 1st edition (reprint 1984). Muiderberg: Dick Coutinho.Google Scholar
D’hulst, Lieven
1981 “Les variantes textuelles des traductions littéraires”. In: Poetics Today: Theory of Translation and Intercultural Relations. Itamar Even-Zohar—Gideon Toury (eds.). Vol. 2, no. 4, Summer/Autumn 1981, pp. 133–141.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duarte, João Ferreira
. “Uncrowning the Original: Carnivalised Translation”. In: TRANS, revista de traductología, no. 4 2000, pp. 9–18. Universidad de Málaga, Departamento de traducción e interpretación. Recibido en mayo de 1999.Google Scholar
Gentzler, Edwin
1993 Contemporary Theories of Translation. London: Routledge. ISBN 1853595136.Google Scholar
[ p. 27 ]
Gorp, Hendrik van
1978 “La traduction littéraire parmi les autres metatextes”. In: Holmes, James S., Lambert, José & Broeck, Raymond van den (eds.) 1978 Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies. Leuven: ACCO, pp. 101–116.Google Scholar
Hässner, Wolfgang
1980 “Zu den literaturtheoretischen Forschungen des Nitraer “Kabinetts für Literaturkommunikation und Experimentalmethodik (KLKEM**)—Versuch einer Bestandsaufnahme”. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Pädagogischen Hochschule “Liselotte Herrmann” Güstrow, Heft 1/1980, S. 109–117.Google Scholar
Hermans, Theo
1999 Translation in Systems. Descriptive and Systemic Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing. ISBN 1900650118.Google Scholar
Holmes, James S.
1988 Translated! Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies. Edited by Raymond van den Broeck. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Approaches to Translation Studies; volume 7. ISBN 9062037399.Google Scholar
Jettmarová, Zuzana
2005 “East Meets West: On Social Agency in Translation Studies Paradigms”. In: Károly, Krisztina—Fóris, Ágota (eds.) 2005 New Trends in Translation Studies. In Honour of Kinga Klaudy. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, pp. 95–105. ISBN 9630582570.Google Scholar
Kestern, Aloysius van
1978 “Equivalence Relationships between Source Text and Target Text: Towards a Typology on the Basis of Semiotics”. In: Holmes, James S., Lambert, José & Broeck, Raymond van den (eds.) 1978 Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies. Leuven: ACCO, pp. 48–68.Google Scholar
Mozejko, Edward
1979 “Slovak Theory of Literary Communication: Notes on the Nitra School of Literary Criticism”. PTL—A Journal of Descriptive Poetics and Theory of Literature, 4 1979, pp. 370–384.Google Scholar
Munday, Jeremy
2001 Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415229272.Google Scholar
Prunč, Erich
2001 Einführung in die Translationswissenschaft. Band 1: Orientierungsrahmen. 1. Auflage. Graz: Selbstverlag, Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Translationswissenschaft. ISBN 3901540032.Google Scholar
Schlegel, Hans-Joachim
1972 “Slowakische Forschungen zur Theorie und Praxis der literarischen Übersetzung”. Der Übersetzer, 9 1972, Nr. 5, S. 1–2.Google Scholar
Shuttleworth, Mark & Cowie, Moira
1997 Dictionary of Translation Studies. Manchester, UK: St. Jerome Publishing. ISBN 1900650037.Google Scholar
Stolze, Radegundis
2001 Übersetzungstheorien: eine Einführung. 3., aktualisierte Auflage. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. ISBN 3823349562.Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon
1979 “Literatur in Vertaling—Systeem en Norm: Voor een Doeltekstgerichte Aanpak van de Literair Vertaling”. In: Lefevere, André & Vanderauwera, Ria 1979 Vertaalwetenschap: Literatuur, Wetenschap, Vertaling en Vertalen, VII, 4. Leuven: ACCO, pp. 24–31.Google Scholar
1980 In Search of a Theory of Translation. Tel Aviv: The Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics, Tel Aviv University. ISSN 03337367.Google Scholar
1981 “Translated Literature: System, Norm, Performance. Toward a TT-Oriented Approach to Literary Translation”. In: Poetics Today: Theory of Translation and Intercultural Relations. Itamar Even-Zohar—Gideon Toury (eds.). Vol. 2, no. 4, Summer/Autumn 1981, pp. 9–27.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven
1998 Comparative Literature: Theory, Method, Application. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 9042005343.Google Scholar
Weisstein, Ulrich
1981 Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft: Jahrbuch für internationale Germanistik, Bericht 1: 1968–1977 Bern, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.Google Scholar

[ p. 28 ]Related Czech and Slovak bibliography (alphabetically)

Gromová, Edita
2003 Teória a didaktika prekladu [Theory and Didactics of Translation]. Nitra: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa, Filozofická fakulta. ISBN 808050587X.Google Scholar
Hochel, Braňo
1990 Preklad ako komunikácia [Translation as Communication]. Bratislava: Slovenský spisovateľ. ISBN 8022000035.Google Scholar
Levý, Jiří
1957/1996 České teorie překladu [Czech Theories of Translation]. 2nd edition (1957 1996) Praha: Ivo Železný. ISBN 80-237-2952-7.Google Scholar
1963/1998 Umění překladu [The Art of Translation]. 3rd edition (1963 1983 1998) Praha: Ivo Železný. ISBN 802373539X.Google Scholar
1967 “Translation as a Decision Process”. In: To Honor Roman Jakobson on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, pp. 1171–1182. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
1969 Die literarische Übersetzung. Theorie einer Kunstgattung [Literary Translation: Theory of a Genre]. 1. Auflage. Frankfurt am Main: Athenäum. Übersetzt von Walter Schamschula.Google Scholar
1971 Bude literární věda exaktní vědou? [Will the Study of Literature Become an Exact Science?]. Prague: Československý spisovatel.Google Scholar
Miko, František
1969 Estetika výrazu [Aesthetics of Expression]. Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo.Google Scholar
1970 Text a štýl [Text and Style]. Bratislava: Smena.Google Scholar
Vilikovský, Ján
1984 Preklad ako tvorba [Translation as Creation]. Bratislava: Slovenský spisovateľ.Google Scholar
*VSAV (Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied) = Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
**KLKEM (Kabinet literárnej komunikácie a experimentálnej metodiky Pedagogickej fakulty v Nitre) = Cabinet of Literary Communication and Experimental Methods of the Pedagogical Faculty in Nitra
[ p. 29 ]