Ivan Minatti was a Slovene poet, literary translator, and scholar. His role in Slovene literature is essential as he is considered the godfather of Slovene intimism. Since his works remain largely untranslated into English, the objective of this master’s thesis is to provide translations of selected poems by Minatti from Slovene into English and to present the obstacles encountered in the process of translation.
In the theoretical part of the thesis, I lay out the various roles of poetry and define poetry in terms of its constituent elements, including form, rhythm, and poetic diction. Next, I briefly present Minatti’s life, work, and contribution to Slovene literature. Finally, I provide an overview of literature on literary translation in general and poetry translation in particular, using various sources to compile guidelines for translating selected poems by Minatti.
The empirical part of my thesis comprises two chapters. The first chapter is composed of the selected poems in Slovene and their translations into English. The second chapter is focused on pinpointing the problems and obstacles I encountered while translating the selected poems and explaining how I went about tackling and overcoming them.
With my translations of Minatti’s poems into English, I aim to make his literary oeuvre accessible to a broader public. Additionally, I hope that my endeavor to provide English translations of Minatti’s poetry will encourage other students to pursue literary translation in their theses and aid in securing a better representation of Slovene literature around the globe.
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