Abstrakt
This study explores the translation of Czech poetry into German during the Cold War (1948- 1989) from the perspective of translators, taking into account their socio-biographical background and diverse activities. Applying an agent-oriented approach, I consider these translators' motivations, which were closely tied to their personal interests and the symbolic capital that they brought to or gained from their work.
A quantitative analysis reveals commonalities across these individuals' linguistic knowledge, biographies and non- translation activities. Even so, the uniqueness of each person's trajectory complicates efforts to establish categories of translators.
For deeper insight into the conditions in which these translators worked, I turn to the cases of Konrad Balder Schäuffelen and various translators of the author Jaroslav Seifert.