Reception of contemporary Slovak literary theory in the Serbian context with a focus on book translations and selected critical reflection

Abstract

This contribution focuses on the reception of Slovak literary theory in the Serbian context since the 1980s. Against the backdrop of reception theory, literary communication, and dialogism, it provides an overview of book and selected journal translations into the Serbian language, considering individual components of the (meta)communication-dialogic process: the author, the structure of the source text, actors involved in the selection of texts, translators into Serbian, and broader cultural connections such as publishers and selected critical Serbian reception responses. In this context, the names of founders of modern Slovak literary theory (Mikuláš Bakoš, the Nitra school, Anton Popovič, František Miko, Dionýz Ďurišin, Peter Zajac) and younger theorists resonate. From the Serbian context perspective, attention is paid to the involvement of bilingual and biliterate authors and translators in communication processes (literary scholar Michal Harpáň, linguist Miroslav Dudok), as well as other translators of Slovak literary theory. Another area under scrutiny is the updating of available Slovak literary studies works in selected critical reflections, along with an indication of the criteria for reception in the Serbian context.

Keywords

• slovak literary theory
• reception
• communication theory
• translation
• biliteracy