Department Research Seminar: Hrdinová, Krajník

Translating historical English dramaturgy into Czech in the 21^st century

The presentation will address the issue of translating drama from historically distant periods into the language of contemporary Czech theatre. The method of "dramaturgical translation", proposed and tested within the framework of a recent Czech Science Foundation project, offers a new, collaborative way of approaching the issue by means of linking the academic, translation and theatre spheres in the translation process. This collaboration results in theatrically effective texts in the target language that can function on the stage without an extensive dramaturgical intervention. The presentation will discuss the method and its differences from the "traditional" ways of translating for the theatre, presenting some of its most significant results so far (e.g., an anthology of English Restoration drama in Czech, which is currently in print, or an edition of English Renaissance plays in new Czech translations that has just started at the Department of English and American Studies).