The presence of Swift in Slovene translation and commentary

Stubbs, John (author)

Although the Slovene milieu has yet to afford Swift’s works a multi-volume critical translation of the kind available in other European languages, this paper argues that Slovene representations of Swift’s writings illuminate crucial aspects of his meaning. This can be seen especially in Mladen Dolar’s afterword to a new unabridged translation of Gulliver’s Travels, in which he approaches Swift through a versatile and profoundly contemporary – yet still accessible – conceptual vocabulary, and in the first Slovene translation of Swift’s Modest Proposal, which retains and transmits the original’s power as a political act. The essay surveys the enduring international presence of Swift in translation and translation studies, outlines aspects of translation theory that prove relevant to its own inquiry, and proceeds to consider the Slovene contribution to Swift’s legacy.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, translation, Mladen Dolar, parallax, voice, A Modest Proposal, Tina Mahkota, Mladina
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 33-48
• Numbering: Vol. 21, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179737
• UDC: 821.111.09Swift J.:81'255.4=163.6
• ISSN on article: 1581-8918
• DOI: 10.4312/elope.21.2.33-48
• COBISS.SI-ID: 224453123
• Publication date in RUL: 23.02.2026

Record is a part of a proceedings

• Title: Irish literature and non-Anglophone Europe
• COBISS.SI-ID: 219403523

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: ELOPE : English language overseas perspectives and enquiries
• Shortened title: ELOPE
• Publisher: Slovensko društvo za angleške študije, Slovensko društvo za angleške študije, Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1581-8918
• COBISS.SI-ID: 212890112

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Prisotnost Swifta v slovenskem prevodu in spremni besedi

Abstract

Čeprav v slovenskem prostoru Swiftova dela še ne obstajajo v obliki obsežnih kritičnih prevodov, kot jih poznamo v drugih evropskih jezikih, članek zagovarja tezo, da slovenske reprezentacije Swiftovega pisanja osvetljujejo ključne vidike njegovega pomena. To je razvidno tudi iz spremne besede Mladena Dolarja k novemu slovenskemu prevodu celotnih Gulliverjevih potovanj, ki k Swiftu pristopi z uporabo večnamenskega in izjemno sodobnega, a še vedno dostopnega, konceptualnega besedišča. Prav tako kot dober primer služi prvi slovenski prevod Swiftovega eseja Skromen predlog, leta 2013 objavljen v slovenskem političnem tedniku Mladina, ki uspešno ohrani in bralstvu posreduje moč izvirnika kot političnega dejanja. Prispevek ponudi pregled dolge in vztrajne mednarodne prisotnosti Swifta v prevodu in prevodoslovju, predstavi relevantne vidike prevodoslovne teorije in obravnava slovenski prispevek k Swiftovi dediščini.

• Keywords: Jonathan Swift, Gulliverjeva potovanja, prevod, Mladen Dolar, paralaksa, glas, Skromen predlog, Tina Mahkota, Mladina