Authors

Susan Reynolds¹;  ¹ British Library, UK

Discussion

Božena Němcová’s `Babička' (1855) remains one of the best-loved works of 19th-century Czech literature, but presents unique challenges for the translator. These include specific cultural references and names of plants, etc., which are frequently obscure even to native Czech readers, and require detailed knowledge when rendering them into other languages. Both the existing English translations by Frances Gregor (1892) and Edith Pargeter (1962) attempt to tackle these problems in different ways with varying degrees of success. The Gregor version, indeed, omits a number of passages. The author, from her own experience of translating this text, examines Gregor's reasons for doing this and discusses the process of creating a new translation of this great Czech classic for the 21st century.