Native Voice (Domorodci) Chybějící Pohled Vdětské Literatuře

Angloameričtí autoři literatury pro děti

For the time being we decided to mix the English and American authors (this approach can be excused because the most important thing for us is the influence of their works on the home production, not their origin) and present them in the chronological order. With gradual changes in the database we will prefer the chronology of the first Czech translations to the chronology of publishing of the original. A table comparing the delay of translation and the publishing of the original might be interesting and show the trends concerning the views of children’s literature. Short but very concise survey of English children’s literature.

Native Voice (Domorodci) – chybějící pohled vdětské literatuře

Notes on insufficient influence of American Indian literature in Czech translations supplies Robert Švábenský. An example of this literature is his translation of Ellen White’s “Stolen Sun”.

It is very important to realize that the environment of British and American literature differs a lot from our cultural milieu. It is given by (and mostly because) the dimensions of these fields: with regard to the size of the market, it is much more profitable so the books of all kinds, and children’s books as well, are published in greater number in English than we can get in Czech translations. Even many of the books which will never be translated are unquestionably of a high quality and we will not get their Czech translations because of commercial reasons.

--Ann Sewels: “Černý hřebec“, from English original “Black Beauty”, translated by Jana Cachová, 1972

--Eric Thompson: “Kouzelný kolotoč”, from English original “ The Adventures of Dougal”, translated by Eva…Ruxová, 1982.

Daniel Defoe [1660–1731] „Robinson Crusoe“ [1719]

Short note about the situation with the translations of Robinson into Slovak.

“Domácí učitel” [1715, 1718] – probably not translated into Czech. “Kniha náboženských a morálních pouček (…) Je psána formou dialogů mezi rodiči a dětmi, pány a sluhy, manžely a manželkami. Styl je živý a zcela naturalistický. Otec je ukázán ze stránky světské i náboženské – podobně jako Defoe – jeho vlastní děti mu často dávají najevo, že chyboval. Kniha byla velmi populární. Do roku 1720 byla osmkrát vydaná a později v 18. století znovu prošla tiskem.

Sir Walter Scott [1771–1832] “Waverley” [1814], “Ivanhoe” [1819]

Was he regarded as an author read by children in the Czech Republic?

Ann Taylor [1782–1866] and Jane Taylor [1783–1824]

“Original Poems for Infant Minds” (Říkanky pro dětské rozoumky) (1804)

“Rhymes for the Nursery” (Dětská říkadla) (1806)

“Original Poems for Infant Minds” (Říkanky pro dětské rozoumky)

The first two books were created in co–operation with other authors, but the most living rhymes were created by the Taylor sisters (e.g. Ann wrote – “Moje maminka” and particularly the one written by Jane – “Třpytí se, třpytí hvězdička”). Books for children were written also by their father Isaac Taylor [1759–1829] and brother [1792–1853]. You can find them on the web site: …

“Little Ann and Other Poems” (Anička a další básně) od Jane a Ann Taylorových, ilustrované Kate Greenawayovou.

„Memoáry, korespondence a poetické ostatky Jane Taylorové“

J.F. Cooper on www:

První americký literární obr –jeho osobní názor na význam J.F.Coopera.

Cooperovy literární útoky –Twainův komentář ke Coopervu psaní.

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) – zknihy „Perspective in American Literature“, třetí kapitola. Zahrnuje vybranou bibliografii a seznam jeho děl.

„Romancing the Indian“ – srovnání sentimentálních a démonizujících zástupců amerických Indiánů vdílech J.F.Coopera, M.Twaina a dalších amerických spisovatelů 19. století.

Ann Sewell [1820–1878]

The author of the only book “Black Beauty”[1857]

The English text was adopted for html from the project Gutenberg. The evidence of her popularity is the film and the existence of the Black Beauty ranch in Texas (offering an asylum for all kinds of animals), as well as a number of adaptations and translations. Two of the Czech translations: “Černý krasavec“(1972), translated by Jana Cahová, and „Černý hřebec“ (1997), translation of the shortened version of Milan Hausner are discussed by Jana Spáčilová.

Thomas Hughes [1822–96]

The author of the children’s classics, which has probably not been translated into Czech.

“Tom Brown Schooldays” (Školní léta Toma Browna) based mostly on his own experience from Rugby (where the director was Dr Th. Arnold, father of M.Arnold, at that time. ( The English text is taken and adjusted for html from the project Gutenberg.) His later works were not so popular as the first one:

“The Scouring of the White Horse” (Hřebelcování bílého koně) [1858]

“Tom Brown at Oxford” (Tom Brown vOxfordu) [1861]

R.M.Ballantyne [1825–94] – one of the first authors of so called ‘dobrodružných příběhů’. Read and translated into Czech by many already in the period between the Wars.

„The Coral Island, a Tale of the Pacific Ocean“ [1858], the best known of his works (the English text is taken and adjusted for html from the project Gutenberg)

“Hunters of Gorillas”, translated by K. Weinfurter, Prague 1926

“Ungava, Adventure in the North”, translated by K.Weinfurter, Prague 1928

“Crusoe, the Dog”, translated by K.Weinfurter, Prague 1929

“Mysterious Man from the West”, translated by K.Weinfurter, Prague 1930

Ballantyne had his followers in R.L.Stevenson, or J.M.Barrie.

“The Coral Island” raised a reaction in the form of the well–known novel by W.Golding “Lord of the Flies” (1954, in Czech as “Pán much”, translated by Heda Kovályová, Naše vojsko 1968). It presents the pessimistic alternative of how a ship–wracked group of school boys could end up on a deserted island (the names of his heroes, Ralph, Jack and Piggy, straightforwardly refer to Ballantyne’s Ralph Rover, Jack Martin, and Peterkin Gay).

Harriet Beecher–Stowe [1811–96]

One of her works, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” [1851–2], is a fixed star published even nowadays, read and valued as one of the first artful presentations of the situation of the Blacks in America. It moved from the sphere of literature for adults to the children’s literature among others because of a series of adaptations. In Czech:

Edward Lear [1812–88] (www of high quality, choose “GO ON”. The “Limerick before Lear” part is especially remarkable.

“The Book of Nonsense” [1846], later as ”The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear” There has been written a lot about the form and the tradition of limerick, from the Czech translators stood out particularly A.Přidal. E. Tálská based on his translations a successful performance of the Goose on String Theatre called “Stories of the Long Nose”.

Charles Kingsley [1819–75]

A study about C.Kingsley by Naomi Wood. (A remarkable publication project of works of University of J.Hopkins, the U.S.A.)

“The Water–Babies”, the film version from 1978.

John Ruskin [1819–1900]

“The King of the Golden River, or the Black Brothers, a legend of Stiria” [1851], it stood at the birth of the fantasy genre. The first Czech translation is from the year 1901, “Král zlaté řeky aneb Černí bratři“, the second translation was titled „Král zlaté řeky“, translated by Marie and Jiří Klíma, in Prague 1911

Charlotte Mary Yonge [1823–1901]

A popular author of school stories for girls; she stands out among others for the quality of her work. Only the novel “ Henrietta’s Wish” is available in the electronic version.

Lewis Carroll [1832-98]

(A whole course is devoted to the translations and the influence of his work.)

Mark Twain [1835–1910]

“Huck Finn dnes”, many references to the pages concerning M.Twain (prepared by Jim Zwick)

We choose from the rich source of the electronic texts by M.Twain:

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” [1884] – the first edition and the comment

Note about the censorship, found on the info page:

“Twainův Tom Sawyer a Huckeberry Finn byli vyřazeni zdětských oddělení veřejné knihovny vBrooklynu (jedné zmnoha), a zakázáni vknihovně vConcordu, Massachusetts, domově Henryho Thoreaua. Huckleberry Finn byl vypuštěn zpovinné četby středních škol pro svou údajnou rasistickou tématiku. Jak napsal list Washington Post, tyto ohledy byly důvodem vyřazení této knihy ze seznamu povinné četby angličtiny vdesátém ročníku školy National Cathedral School ve Washingtonu. Newhavenský korespondent uvedl, že kniha byla vyřazena zprogramu výuky jedné obecné školy i vNew Havenu. Nedávno vznesené výhrady se týkaly použití slova „negr“, které způsobilo problémy i knize „Chaloupka strýčka Toma“ ve Waukganu, Illinois.

“The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson”, commented HTML version

Mark Twain as a translator:

Thomas Hardy [1840–1928]

“Our Exploits at West Poley” [magazine 1892/3, as a book in Oxford UP 1952!] ---“Dobrodružství ve West Poley“ (Jarmila Rosíková, SNDK 1960) (and the Czech film ‘Devil’s Pocket’)

Juliana Horatia Ewing [1841–85], a popular children’s author of the Victorian age ---there has been, probably, no Czech translation.

“Lob Lie–down–the–fire or the Luck of Lingborough”

There is a book by K.F.Getty about the author.

John Habberton [1842–1941]

“Helen’s Babies” [1876] “ Hýta a Batul“ (Helen‘s Poultry- Children of Other‘sParents) Translated by Antonie Malá, with 133 illustrations of Josef Wenig. 7th edition, F.Šimáček, Prague 1919.

There is an explanatory note – written exactly in the style of the text of the book itself:

In the English original written with the view of the real life, the names of the poultry are Budge and Toddy, (nicknames for John and Charles), the translator also presented with ‘the best’ children felt to be obliged to change these in the Czech translation for the nicknames her own children used for each other. She used Hýta and Batul (Hýta for Vojta and Batul for ‘brother’). An attractive period novel is more of a sort of literature about children than for children. It describes the troubles of an uncle who takes care of two naughty children during the holidays. The book was refused by several publishing houses, but later it was very successful (even in Czech: unusual popularity of the book is obvious from this advert. The story itself created a model, to which the humourists keep returning as to the tried method how to attract readers even nowadays (the last proof of this is the Czech competition of “the comedy film of the century”, whose winner became a kind, but truckling movie “ Stebou mě baví svět”. It was interesting to find out to what extent is the inacceptibility of the story in Czech caused by the obsolete translation. Nevertheless, the original itself is only a weak ancestor of the great stories of the ‘great rascals’ – the story is rather forcedly delightful and, of course, the untrustworthy love affair is not missing. To create the relationship between the readers and the heroes of Twain’s or later Crompton’s books is for the reader much harder but the basis are more solid. After the great success of the book, the author wrote the sequence to it (present in the Czech translation mentioned earlier) and many other similar stories, which were not that successful. We are also offering the introduction to the Czech edition of the book of stories by the translator O.Klazar. It, except for other things, shows the period overvaluation of the author.

Florence montgomery [1843–1923]

“Misunderstood” [1869] –translated by M.Nekvidová–Nešporová. B. Kočí, Prague 1906.

„Původně nezamýšleno pro děti, ale dětmi hojně čteno. Stejně jako kniha C.Sinclairové o třicet let dříve, i tato vyjadřuje souhlas srozverným a nevázaným jednáním dětí. Stala se velmi populární a pravděpodobně napomohla uvolnění upjatého viktoriánského přístupu kchování dětí. Patřila koblíbeným knihám D.Ashfordové, autorky „Mladých návštěvníků“

Chandler Harris [1848–1908]

Strýc Remus, jeho písně… (fables and folklore of the Blacks)

Richard Jefferies

“Magic Wood” (Čarovný les)

“Bevis, a Story of a Boy” – the beginning of the story line continuing in Seton and Ransom, probably not translated into Czech. There were published in Czech “Stories of my Heart. My Autobiography”. Translated by M. Jesenská (!), Prague 1908.

Bibliography of other works.

Francis Hodgson Burnett [1849–1924]

“Little Lord Fauntleroy” [in magazine 1885, as a book 1886] – In several Czech translations and adaptations, such as:

“ The Little Princess” , in Czech as “Malá miss“, translated by R.Krištinek, in Prague 1910, 1933.

„A Fair Barbarian“ [1881] – probably not translated into Czech.

Robert Louis Stevenson [1850–94]

“Treasure Island” [in magazine 1881, as a book 1883]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [1859-1930]

Www sources offer exhaustive information including the complete texts, comments, etc. From many interesting pages we have chosen at least two:

Sherlockovská stránka- the page of David Souček, which offers an elaborate bibliography of the Czech translations of Doyle’s work. There are many Czech translations, e.g. by F.Jungwirth, F.Gel, Z. Wolfová, E, Kondrysová. “The Hound of Baskerville” was extraordinarily interesting for the readers as well as translators. Not talking about the well–known series of translations, let’s mention the translation of J.Pachmayer. The ‘non–Holmes’books inspired by his interest in spiritism were translated as well.

The detailed research in the translations of the Sherlock Holmes books would exceed the possibilities of this course.

Kenneth Grahame [1859–1932]

“Day Dreams” [1898] (can possibly be found on…)

“Wind in the Willows” [1908] ---the full text is offered both in English and in Czech. It was created at the Department of English and American Studies as a part of the project – Kačenka

For fluent reading, we are adding the text in English.

Ernest Thompson Seton [1860–1946] , vlastním jménem Ernest Evan Thompson, také nazýván Ernest E. Thompson nebo Ernest Seton–Thompson (14.8.1860 v South Shields, Durham, Anglie –23.10.1946 vSeton Village, Santa Fe, New Main, Spojené státy), přírodovědec a spisovatel, raný člen moderní školy psaní beletrie se zvířecí tématikou. Byl vychován vseverní Americe , poté co jeho rodina emigrovala do kanady vroce 1866. Přitahovala ho příroda a díky tomu súspěchem odolával pokusům příbuzných udělat zněho umělce. Získal zkušenosti jako přírodovědec, když lovil vprériích Manitoby vposledních letech 19. století. Poznatky ztohoto období použil jako základ pro své zvířecí příběhy. Jeho umělecká výchova mu umožnila živit se nějaký čas kreslením divokých zvířat. Své povídky sebral ve své nejpopulárnější knize „“Wild Animals I Have Known“ Vpsaní podobných knih pokračoval do r.1940. Shlubokým zájmem o budoucnost prérie bojoval Seton za ustanovení rezervací pro Indiány a národní parků pro zvířata ohrožená vyhynutím. Aby dětem umožnil poznat a studovat přírodu, založil vroce 1902 hnutí Woodcraft Indians a později se stal členem ustavující rady chlapeckých oddílů amerických skautů.“ –taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica on CD-ROM, 1997.

Our attention was drawn by P.Kapica to Seton’s bibliographies: the English on Seton homepage, and surprisingly detailed bibliography of the Czech translations of Seton’s works prepared by F.Kožíšek.We use it in full and thank the author that we were allowed to. “Wild Animals I Have Known” (a part of American Memory server, Library of Congress) – full text, 200 illustrations, a commentary, and notes on the author.

Analysis of the translation of the book – interesting, though we do not have to agree with the judgements of the individual items, offers a stimulating methodological discussion, prepared by Z. Rotrekl.

„Rolf in the Woods” –the English text assumed and adjusted for HTML from the project Gutenberg.

“Duch lesů” – the origin and essence of scauting, translated by M.Seifert, 1922. (3,0,1 MB in realization for Acrobat Reader –the outstretching of the set is sometimes rather time consuming; it enables looking through the precise copy of the book edition.

we are adding also this www page, which concerns only Seton’s personal qualities and abilities—Seton as a painter, scout, naturalist, etc. There is the reference to Seton’s books, now taken care of by Baťa.

Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts [1860–1943]

One of the first Canadian authors. He wrote animal stories under the influence of Seton. You can find among the well known “ The Kindred of the Wild” [1902] – collection of short stories.

--“Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up” [a theatre play 1904]

Jana Slavíková offers a very short note about the author and a short extract of the original as well as the translation by Šrut.

Rudyard Kipling [1865–1936]

“Just So Stories” – there is a different realization of one of them here:

Student translations of the extract:

The original text and two of the Czech translations [this text is a part of the parallel corpus Kačenka at the Faculty of Arts in Brno].

--nalezitelné vHTML (Bibliomania)

Kipling, Rudyard: Ocenění a pohádky.

Kipling, Rudyard: Vybraná próza a verše.

Helen Beatrix Potter (paní Heelis) [1866–93]

A tip for Czech publishers. She was an author of small books, which she herself profoundly illustrated. She is considered one of the founders of the pre–school children’s literature. She has not been translated into Czech probably because her stories depend on illustrations, which were easier to imitate than to translate. But it is probable that her approach influenced Czech writers. Her main, and still popular, hero is Peter Rabbit. Today, when Potter is considered a classic of English children’s literature and when the copyrights probably do not apply to her work, it would be worth thinking about publishing at least the representative edition of her books. Among others it would be very suitable for teaching English, especially in the mirror publication. We are offering the list of all published books, some of them accessible in HTML form and some in the translations of the students of the English Department, MU in Brno.

Alexandre Milne [1882–1956]

“Winnie the Pooh” [1926] –“Medvídek Pú“, translated by H.Skoumalová, Prague 1938. We are offering the notes to her translation by E.Kratichvilová.

The translations of two of his books by B.Hoffa, which were written for adults but follow the story line of Winnie the Pooh, are analysed by J.Dufková. There are countless references to “Winnie the Pooh”, which most of the time contain only the chosen pictures and homage. Detailed information or full text are missing, probably because of the copyrights owned by W.Disney. For those interested, there is an article about the archive of some of Shephard’s illustrations left in his place of work in England.

Arthur Ransome [1884–1967] --12 books [1930–47] about the Swallows and the Amazons.

Another Czech bibliography of A.Ransom and several interesting references e.g. to the museum with a model for the houseboat of Captain Flint.

To discuss:

„ Tváří vtvář milionu slov o dětech Walkerových a jejich kamarádech bychom se mohli ptát, jestli mohly skutečně být neustále tak přímé. Možná bychom chtěli vidět na živo jejich vztahy srodiči, se kterými se setkáváme pouze jako schápajícími postavami vpozadí. Možná bychom je chtěli poznat i jinde než jen na prázdninách… Starší děti, ačkoliv znich jsou teenageři než série příběhů skončí, udržují asexuální vztahy, jež nejsou zcela vsouladu sadolescencí. Celkem vzato, je tu dost málo ohledů, celkem málo momentů, kdy si čtenář náhle uvědomí, že je život bohatší a zvláštnější, než jak ho vnímal před tím.“

In connection with this, there is an interesting book “Far–Distant Oxus” by Katharine Hull [1921–77] and Pamela Whitlock [1920–82](she became an author and editor of children’s literature). They wrote it at the age of 15, and 16 following the example of Ransom books. It was published as he wished so. From the point of the narrative technique it is said to be on a far with his work.

Bowdlerismus dnes ještě existuje, ale zbavovat se dnes sexuálních narážek způsobuje pokles popularity a zbavovat se rasových narážek popularitu zvýší. Co mám na mysli:

Verze doktora Bolíto z 60. let byla vtichosti „vyškrtnuta“ zoriginálu zroku 1920, ve kterém papoušek Polynesie čas od času používal neslušné výrazy když mluvil o černoších. Vroce 1988, kdy se kniha dostala zcentra zájmu čtenářů natolik, že přestala být publikována, připravili vydavatelé novou verzi, ze které odstranili téměř všechny rasové narážky (a vystřihli část děje, jež zahrnovala touhu prince Bumpa stát se bílým0.

Richmal Crompton [1890–1969]

(The mentioned page is Australian that is why the access to it is sometimes slower. The author of the series of stories about William [in edition 1922–1970!] in Czech as selected stories “Jirka postrach rodiny” and “Jirka vráži” translated by J.Emerová (the verses in the first selectionwere translated by J.Hanylík0, both the selections were arranged by J.Tichý. Here is one of the tremendous comics–like illustrations made by J.Malák for the first book of selected stories. Here is also one story, “Bishop’s Handkerchief”, translated. Apart from that she wrote a large amount of popular adult novels.

John Ronald Reuer Tolkien [1892-1973]

This cult author needs no comment, The popularity of his and the rest of the fantasy authors in the community of the computer enthusiasts may be the topic of sociological or psychological research. Because of the popularity there are references to him on www untold. Not all of them, though, are worth your attention. One of the most useful is the reference from Slovakia, where you can fin the bibliography of Czech and Slovak editions, several references to secondary and additional sources, andto all essencial www sources about Tolkien.

A whole essay could be written about the behaviour of internet dilettants, who created one page about Tolkien:

First, there are no names of the translators, not talking about their work. Second, there are tasteless and groundless outbursts of this kind: (about Hobit)

The original Czech edition was, in fact, terrible! Well, terrible, it was puke with shit-like infantile illustrations, meant for doped schizophrenic mentally retarded individuals in the age of 1–3 with extremely masochistic inclinations…” “What shall I tell you about this Book? It is the most elaborate book with great atmosphere and, probably, the best book (if only) of the 20th century, perhaps the best book of all ages? Why? You know it already anyway.” The literary aspect and the translation are not the main aims of the www pages and organizations, e.g. Česká tolkienovská společnost, access to which is rather difficult as you do not know where to click to continue (to those who do not want to search themselves we will prompt that after the third unsuccessful attempt the place where to click will get highlighted).