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Translations of Radoj Ralin's epigrams into Czech

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2022

Abstract

The article deals with the Czech reception of the work of Radoj Ralin (Dimitar Stefanov Stoyanov; 1923-2004), especially with the translations of his epigrams into Czech. These texts were partly published in magazines or in samizdat and partly published only in this article from manuscript (the first edition of 10 translations from the estate of Věnceslava Bechyňová and 7 translations from the estate of Danuše Hronková). In the period 1961-2006, 61 Czech translations of 59 epigrams by Ralin from four collections were realized. 1. "Bezopasni igli" (1960): in 1961 Karel Bradáč translated 6 issues, V. Bechyňová in 1963 23 issues (of which only 13 were published). 2. "Molya, zapovyadayte!" (1966): 2 epigrams were published anonymously (Tvorba 1970, 1972), the pseudonym Jaroslav published 5 issues in the same periodical (Tvorba 1973), the pseudonym mV (probably Miloš Vojta) published 9 issues (Tvar 1992) and D. Hronková left 6 issues in her estate. 3. Jaroslav Vavroš was the only one interested in the book "Lichen kontakt" (1965), from which the translator translated 8 issues for the samizdat "Ze sbírky Osobní kontakt" (2006). 4. The banned collection "Lyuti chushki" (1968) was the least interesting, given the circumstances of the time. The manuscript of a single epigram was left in the estate of D. Hronková, and another single number from Ralin's book in question was dealt with by Jakub Mikulecký in his monograph on Bulgarian dissent.

R. Ralin was most richly presented in the Czech environment as a satirist and epigrammatist. The humorous illustrations by Boris Iliev Dimovsky (1925-2007), which are reproduced in the 36 selected translations together with the Bulgarian original, undoubtedly contributed to the positive literary reception.