AJL29055 Carroll's "Alice" in Czech

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 L33, except Mon 13. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 17/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
After completing the course, the student will
  • know in detail the most influential works by Lewis Carroll and their position in children's literature and in culture in general
  • be able to identify and explain differences in translators' practice and decisions as they developped in time in any text
  • be able to demonstrate the influence Carroll's Alice had on Czech literature for children and discuss the of its reception in Czech culture
    The course aims at a detailed analysis of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and their oldest and/or classical Czech translations (four translations of Wonderland and two of Through the Looking-Glass) as well as their role in the Czech cultural context. These will be also compared with the series of new Czech retranslations published - after a 50-year gap - in the 21st century. Students will be asked to compare the texts with original Czech literary works for children and look for explanations for the translators' decisions. The background of Alice will be discussed (including the manuscript version Alice's Adventures Under Ground) as well as some of the many interpretations of and commentaries on the Alice books (eg. Gardner, Heath, Weaver).
    • Learning outcomes
    After completing the course, the student will be able to
  • explain the role of the works of Lewis Carroll in the development of literature for children;
  • point out specific examples of how it influenced Czech culture, and describe the developemnt of Carroll's reception in Czech literature;
  • demonstrate various strategies the Czech translators used and point out their development in time and their dependance on the selected target readership group.
    • Syllabus
    • 1. History of the two texts: Dodgson/Carroll; the "ur-text" of Alice -- Alice's Adventures Under Ground; the place of the two books in the Western and global cultures and in the history of children's literature.
    • 2-3. Czech translations, their authors, and the history of Czech editions. The most striking differences from the original. The translators' basic approach. Degree of localization to the Czech environment. Translation of the opening and closing poems. Illustrations.
    • 4. Structure of both books: the dream framing, the chess game in the 2nd volume, and its translation. The names of the characters.
    • 5-6. Language play, its principles and mechanisms. Wordplay as a tool for revealing patterns and conventions in language and thought. The possibilities of translation in rendering this aspect of the text.
    • 7. Nonsense and its meaning. Alice for adults: philosophical, psychological and other contexts. Logic as the counterpart of nonsense. Possibilities of preserving this dimension of the text in translation.
    • 8. Czech responses to Carroll: Nezval and his Anička skřítek a Slaměný Hubert; adaptations by the filmmaker Jan Švankmajer; Czech original illustrations.
    • 9. Warren Weaver and the follow-up international project: comparing translations into different languages through back-translation. Limitations of this method: Weaver's evaluation of Sirin's (Nabokov's) translation into Russian.
    • 10. Translation of poems, their form and function. "Nursery rhymes" and the absence of their equivalents in Czech. Riddle in verse as a culturally specific form.
    • 11. Jabberwocky -- Žvahlav -- Tlachapoud. A detailed analysis of 7 translations of the poem and its additional explanation as given by Humpty Dumpty.
    • 12. Other texts by Carroll and their Czech versions: The Hunting of the Snark, The Game of Logic, Tangled Tale, Bruno...
    • 13. Summary, final discussion of Czech translations. The importance of the intended function and target group.
    Literature
    • Weaver, Warren. Alice in many tongues. The translations of Alice in Wonderland. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1964.
    • Sutherland, Robert D. Language and Lewis Carroll. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1970.
    • CARROLL, Lewis. Zamotaný příběh. Translated by Luboš Pick. Vyd. 1. Praha: Volvox Globator, 1996, 102 s. ISBN 8072070215. info
    • NEZVAL, Vítězslav. Anička skřítek a Slaměný Hubert. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1979. info
    • CARROLL, Lewis. Priključenija Alisy v strane čudes skvoz‘ zerkalo i čto tam uvidela Alisa, ili Alisa v zazerkal‘je. Translated by N. M. Demurova. Moskva: Nauka, 1978, 358 s. info
    • CARROLL, Lewis. Alice in wonderland : authoritative texts of Alice's adventures in wonderland through the looking-glass the hunting of the snark : backgrounds, essays in criticism. Edited by Donald J. Gray. New York: W.W. Norton, 1971, xi, 434. ISBN 0393099776. info
    • CARROLL, Lewis. The annotated Alice. Edited by Martin Gardner, Illustrated by John Tenniel. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970, 352 s. ISBN 0-14-001387-3. info
    • CARROLL, Lewis. Alenka v kraji divů a za zrcadlem. Praha: Státní nakladatelství dětské knihy, 1961. info
    • CARROLL, Lewis. Symbolic logic and the game of logic : Mathematical recreations of Lewis Carroll : (both books bound as one). New York: Dover Publications, 1958, xxxi, 96. info
    • GROULX, Lionel. Historie du Canada Francais : depuis la découverte. [S.l.]: L'Action Nationale, 1951, 302 s. info
    Teaching methods
    Seminar; home assignment for each week (commentary to individual aspects of the translations, translation of assigned passages).
    Assessment methods
    Active participation in the course; final essay (produced at home) or analysis of selected texts.
    Language of instruction
    English
    Further Comments
    The course is taught annually.
    The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022.
    • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/AJL29055