Abstract
The collective monograph focuses on the work of Jan Zábrana, a prominent Czech writer and translator of the second half of the 20th century. A number of authors, Czech and international translation studies and Czech studies scholars as well as students contributed to the publication.
The monograph is divided into several sub-sections. The first sub-section, titled Creative Span, is opened with an essay by Zábrana's editor Jan Šulc who explains the versatility of Zábrana's work.
It contains essays and analytical texts on both his authorial work and translation work from French and Spanish, and also literarily philosophical articles. The second sub-section is dedicated to one of the two main literary interests of Jan Zábrana - Russian literature.
It is introduced by a comprehensive essay by Zuzana Šťastná and followed by chapters on Zábrana's translations of Sergei Yesenin, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, Isaak Babel and others. Zábrana's translations from literature in English, his second main interest, are the topic of the third sub-section, introduced by a knowledgeable essay by Zdeněk Beran.
The following chapters discuss Zábrana's translations of J. Conrad, C.
Sandburg and E. Pound.
The monograph ends with a sub-section dedicated to Zábrana's translation of popular genres. The appendix to the book contains several translations of Zábrana's poems and short prose pieces into French, Spanish, German, Russian and English.
These translations were done in translation workshops of the Institute of Translation Studies as a tribute to this exceptional translator and as an inspiration for future translations of his work into foreign languages.