Translations of Czech Literature in Mexico

Abstract

This historiographical paper is based on the rigorosum thesis Translations of Czech Literature in Mexico and Translations of Mexican Literature into Czech (Strnadová 2021), defended at the Institute of Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, and offers a diachronic view of the publication of Czech literature in Mexico from the first translation (1942) until 2019. The aim of the paper is to introduce the topic of translations of Czech literature in Mexico in the context of the Polysystem theory, explain the research methodology, and present a summary of the compiled corpus of translations, including its analysis, focusing on the following questions: What works of Czech literature are available to Mexican readers in translation into Spanish? What literary type and genre predominates and who is the author of the originals? Who made these translations and who published them? What is the importance of "imported translations" in the Mexican book market? How many translations are indirect? The paper also compares the results of the research with the thesis of Nováková (2015), who dealt with translations of Czech literature in Argentina.