STYLISTICKÉ HODNOCENÍ PŘEKLADU BÁSNĚ JAKOBA VAN HODDISE WELTENDE
STYLISTIC EVALUATION OF THE TRANSLATION OF A POEM WELTENDE BY JAKOB VAN HODDIS

Summary/Abstract: The essence of a verse translation is not a mechanical transfer of the most words with the same meaning or not even a strict meter, rhyme and verse compliance. Much more important is the maintenance of the total and therefore equivalent impression. A choice of words is certainly closely related to the time at which the translation originates. If the text has been once translated it does not mean that the translation had no other meaning and not only depending its quality but mainly because of the need to deal with the current form of language. We percieve language used thirty years ago differently than today. The new translation by Radek Malý proves permanent vitality of expressionist poems. It also allows to receive an additional and new angle on this poem. By analyzing selected, objectively assessable, phenomena can be observed that both translations achieve high quality but each has its weaker points. Malý gave his anthology an epithet “small” in order to define himself in contrast to Kundera´s big anthology. Malý´s anthology did not have primarily ambitions to cope Kundera but in fact it did. Thus, if Malý and Kundera managed to achieve functional equivalence and maintain the impression of the poem in a lexical and semantic respect, as it is apparent from the preceding analysis, Malý´s translation sounds better in terms of un-markedness of selected vocabulary. The approach of vocabulary to the current language contributes to the immediate emotive effect on the recipient.

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