Abstract
The Czech original of The Art of Translation written by Jiří Levý was published in 1963. 1969 it was translated into German with certain additions to the original. As the first international edition, the German version became the main source through which Levý's theory spread to an international readership and later, together with the original, served as the basis for the second Czech edition published in 1983 by Karel Hausenblas.
This paper presents the differences between the Czech original, the German translation, and its back-translation into Czech by Hausenblas. Since the Czech original was largely based on Czech culture and literature, the translation required adaptation for the German readership, including extensive editing on linguistic as well as pragmatic levels. Apart from the concrete shifts between the three versions, the paper also describes the translation process into German and comments on Hausenblas's editorial approach.
The discrepancies between the Czech original and its German translation can be divided into three main groups. The first group includes examples of translation challenges typical for Czech translations that could be replaced by analogous examples in German translations. The second group consists of omissions and additions occurring in both versions, due to numerous irreplaceable examples. The third group involves particular words that could not be translated with one clear German equivalent.
Over fifty years after the German version was published, the study presents translation shifts that were also transferred into further translations of Levý's work considering that the German version was perceived as a source text.