Slavica Tergestina 28 (2022/I)

Slavica tergestina volumes usually focus on a particular theme or concept. Most of the articles published so far deal with the cultural realm of the Slavic world from the perspective of modern semiotic and cultural methodological approaches, but the journal remains open to other approaches and methodologies. The theme of the upcoming volume along with detailed descriptions of the submission deadlines and the peer review process can be found on our website at www.slavicater.org. All published articles are also available online, both on the journal website and in the University of Trieste web publication system at www.openstarts.units.it/dspace/handle/10077/2204.

This article explores what understanding of the translator’s role should ideally underlie modern literary translations. It examines the extent to which functional translation models such as the Skopos theory, which place the expectations of the client and orientation towards readers above fidelity to the original, can be applied to the current professional practice of translating. Selected passages from the German translation of the Slovenian mountaineering book Pot will be used to illustrate how the analysis of the target audience can affect the translation process. By means of examples from the translation, it will be demonstrated that loyalty to the source text can be achieved not only by adhering to the wording of the original but also through deliberate changes (in the form of additions or footnotes). Against the background of the findings, contemporary literary translation will be defined as a purpose-oriented, creative, (self-)reflexive decision-making process focused on anticipated reader expectations.

The present article looks at narrative mountaineering literature as a hybrid genre that addresses mountain climbing, expeditions to mountain peaks and high-altitude skiing as demanding existential trials and offering liminal experiences. In texts written by climbers of Himalayan peaks in particular, hybridity is mostly formed by the interweaving, confrontation and adaptation of such genres as travel writing, life writing and guide books, as well as by the adoption of elements of narrative genres belonging to canonical literature. In terms of case studies, the article focuses on three Slovenian-language books with a marked aesthetic tendency: Dušan Jelinčič’s Zvezdnate noči (Starry Nights, 1990), Igor Škamperle’s Sneg na zlati veji (The Snow on the Golden Bough, 1992) and Bogdan Biščak’s Igra in biseri (The Game and the Pearls, 2018). Of particular interest are the aesthetic singularity of these three texts as well as the features they share with narrative mountaineering literature in general.

The article presents the results of a comparative reading of all Slovenian- language books which entail accounts of expeditions to eight-thousand- metre peaks written by members of those expeditions. Each book is read for acknowledgements of mountaineering books, be they within or beyond the corpus, which have helped inspire a given author to take up climbing. The portion of mountaineering books which entail such intertextual references to older representatives of the genre seems surprisingly large and even grows if statements made by the authors in interviews, contributions to their colleagues’ books and other kinds of epitexts are added to the corpus. This enables the conclusion that Himalayan climbing, while being the deadliest of sports, is also the most literary sport and, moreover, the sport whose literature inspires many of their readers to join the ranks of Himalayan climbers and, specifically, climbers who write about their climbs.