Abstrakt
This chapter centres on the 1811 experimental Czech translation of Paradise Lost, Ztracený ráj, by the Czech polyglot Jungmann, because it vitally affected the rise of modern Czech language and literature. Jungmann belonged to the second generation of the Czech national revivalists who strove to revive the Czech culture and language oppressed by Austrian rule and dominated by German.
The chapter considers Jungmann's reasons for choosing to translate Milton's epic, concluding they were patriotic and linguistic. Relying on eighteenth-century German and Polish translations, Jungmann embarked on creating modern Czech literary language, reviving or inventing many now common words.
His treatment of Milton's grand style, including prosody, helped to shape nineteenth-century Czech poetry. Later renderings of Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and a recent translation of Samson Agonistes are discussed, to reveal that Jungmann's achievement remains unsurpassed.