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Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Magisterská diplomová práce Pavel Peléšek 2017 Pavel Peléšek 20 17 Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English-language Translation Pavel Peléšek Fan-Made and Professional Translation Criticism of Science Fiction Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D. 2017 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature I would like to thank my supervisor Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D. for his patience and his helpful suggestions, the librarians at the Moravian Library for their hard work carrying 27 years’ worth of magazines back and forth, and my friend Anna for saying this thesis is actually enjoyable to read. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 9 2. Theoretical background .......................................................................................... 12 2.1 Definitions of Science-Fiction ......................................................................... 12 2.2 Science-Fiction in Czech Context .................................................................... 16 2.3 Fans and Fandom ............................................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Fandom ...................................................................................................... 19 2.4 Local Fandom................................................................................................... 20 2.5 Translation Criticism and SF ........................................................................... 22 2.5.1 Defining Translation Criticism ................................................................. 24 2.5.2 Professional and Amateur ......................................................................... 25 2.6 Criteria of Translation Criticism ...................................................................... 27 2.6.1 Linguistic Components by Reiss ............................................................... 28 2.6.2 Extra-Linguistic Components by Reiss ..................................................... 28 2.6.3 Source- and Target-Oriented Criticism ..................................................... 29 2.7 Sources of Criticism ......................................................................................... 30 2.7.1 Magazines ................................................................................................. 32 2.7.2 Web-Based Sources .................................................................................. 34 3. Analysis of Primary Sources of Criticism .............................................................. 36 3.1 Analysis of Printed Sources ............................................................................. 36 3.1.1 Vivisektor .................................................................................................. 36 3.1.2 Hvězdný tamtam ....................................................................................... 45 3.1.3 Knihomorna .............................................................................................. 48 3.2 Analysis of Web-Based Sources ...................................................................... 51 3.2.1 Literary Web Pages ................................................................................... 51 3.2.2 Discussion Forums .................................................................................... 54 3.2.3 SF Web Pages ........................................................................................... 62 3.2.4 Personal Blogs ........................................................................................... 67 4. Results of the Analysis ........................................................................................... 69 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 73 6. References .............................................................................................................. 77 6.1 Primary Sources of Criticism ........................................................................... 77 Printed Sources .................................................................................................. 77 Internet Sources .................................................................................................. 77 6.2 Secondary Sources ........................................................................................... 79 Unsuitable Primary Sources of Criticism ............................................................... 81 Resumé ....................................................................................................................... 82 Resumé in Czech ........................................................................................................ 83 1. Introduction Science-fiction is a literary genre that has drawn attention of many readers throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. With advances in science and technology providing more topics to write about, science fiction has become one of the most popular genres among the public. The fans come from the ranks of both academically and scientifically educated people familiar with the terminology often employed in the books and films, and the general, casual readership fascinated by the hardly-imaginable scientific marvels. While there are many active writers all over the world, readers in the Czechoslovak and later Czech and Slovak republics have always wished to have access to stories published outside of their own country. And with the language barrier denying many of them the pleasure of reading books in more than one or two languages, translations of this genre soon proved desirable and even necessary. But not all the results of the translators’ work are always perfect – there is rarely a mistake missed by the avid and critical readership for long. A dissatisfied reader is prone to expressing his or her opinion in whatever way he or she finds available. These outlets can be different media with varying degree of publicity, ranging from letters sent to the book’s publisher, reviews in a magazine, to a more contemporary approach – commenting on an internet forum. There he or she can share thoughts with like-minded peers and also receive feedback from other members of the community. Fans of science-fiction of Czechoslovakia in the latter half of the 20th century and later in its two successive states, Czech Republic and Slovakia, proved to be a good example of critical readerships. At first, they had to make do with only a limited range of 6 western authors, due to the political situation. But with the downfall of the Communist regime, the market opened for the rest of the science-fiction production. Following the weakening of the Communist influence in the late 1980s, several magazines focusing on science-fiction, such as Ikarie and Interkom, started being published. They also contained a section dedicated to fan comments and reviews, some of which dealt with the quality of the translations of novels, short stories, and films that were made accessible to the community. With the emergence of the Internet many web pages appeared, made by both fans themselves and professional translators or publishers focusing on science-fiction. These comments and reviews were sometimes so extensive and demonstrating such insight that it could be argued that they approached the quality of professional translation criticism. This trend, however, does seem to have faded in recent years. Most science- fiction-related internet forums have not seen much, if any, activity since 2014. Some of the science-fiction magazines have either reduced the frequency of publishing or stopped being published in the physical form altogether, instead having resorted to only being published online (again, if at all). Since this effectively makes fan-based criticism a phenomenon in decline, it enables to a certain extent a historical overview of this topic. This thesis will focus on the reviews of the products of the translators’ labour. The main goal will be to compile a comprehensive overview of the ways Czechoslovak and later Czech and Slovak professionals and fans of science-fiction reacted to the translations of their favourite genre since its rise in popularity in the 1960s until the decline in popularity of this phenomenon in the 2010s. It will demonstrate the methods used in the process, the media that were utilised for this purpose, and while doing so, compile a comparative sub-study of the quality and scope of professional criticism of science-fiction literature, and of its fan-based counterparts. Most academic studies have so far focused 7 on the translations themselves and on the comparison of quality of its two distinct categories: fan-produced and professional. Many comparable diploma theses that have been elaborated so far focus on the comparison of quality of fan-based and professional translations from a wide range of genres and even media, including localisation of videogames, film subtitling, etc. One such thesis was elaborated in 2016 by Hana Šimečková, who has offered a concise

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