Hendrik Conscience in Slovak reception: translations of the Flemish writer in 19th cenutry Slovak context

Abstract

In this article, an outline of the famous Flemish writer Hendrik Conscience and his translations in Slovak reception is provided, with some additions from his international context, relevant in reception research. Some key publications in this context from Wilken Engelbrecht (Engelbrecht 2021) are supplemented by more recent archival research in Slovakia by the author. Engelbrecht (2018) further argues that the Slovak translations of Conscience arose independently of the Czech editions, in a different order and in a different literary context. He also argues that Conscience's popularity and position is different in the Slovak context, where the Catholic milieu is more emphasised and publications in Slovak were more under pressure from (Hungarian) censorship bodies. The contribution uses the findings of the comparative literature scholar Lieven D´Hulst. His (2013 and 2019) comparative studies on Conscience's reception are interesting because they offer some interesting research questions and a methodology. First of all, he examines whether the translated literature in question is able to fill specific "formal, generic or thematic niches in the target literature, especially than those niches for which the target literature itself has no or limited supply (D´Hulst 2013, p. 251)." The thesis of D´Hulst is applied on the Slovak case study within the first period of the translations of Conscience. The article presents an example of a Conscience adaptation within the Budapest-based Catholic circles of Slovak intelligentsia.