NALEZENO V PŘEKLADU. ANGLICKÉ VERZE ŠKVORECKÉHO ROMÁNŮ PŘÍBĚH INŽENÝRA LIDSKÝCH DUŠÍ A SCHERZO CAPRICCIO
FOUND IN TRANSLATION (SOME NOTES ON ENGLISH VERSIONS OF SKVORECKY'S NOVELS PŘÍBĚH INŽENÝRA LIDSKÝCH DUŠÍ AND SCHERZO CAPRICCIOSO)

Summary/Abstract: When Josef Skvorecky came to Canada, his English was so excellent that he could immediately start teaching English and American literature at the Uuniversity of Toronto; obviously he would be able to write in his favourite, though not native language and gain wider audience for his books. Still he voluntarily decided to continue writing in Czech which meant to be dependent on translators. Coming from the analysis of two of his major exile novels, Příběh inženýra lidských duší and Scherzo capriccioso, and the experience of their translator Paul Wilson, the author of this article attempts to point out several attributes characteristic of Skvorecky's style (e. g. the writer's passion for “Czech” dialect or the influence the political context of his novels had on the language of the characters) that represent a major problem for a translator trying to transfer the original Czech novel into an original English or rather novel.

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