Work

Lost in translation? Jáchym Topol’s The Devil’s Workshop and its local and transnational reader

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Jáchym Topol, who is a Czech writer and poet, has several times emphasized that he does not care about his readers, especially foreign ones who get to read translated versions of his work, as it is not his job to be understood. With the rise of transnational WWII-related literature in the Czech Republic in the last two decades, I explore how his novel The Devil’s Workshop has become an important work in the realm of transnational literature, despite Topol’s peculiar writing style and stance towards his international readers. In my analysis, I explore Topol’s writing style, the novel’s socio-historical context through the concept of difficult heritage and the juxtaposition of Czech and Belarusian WWII narratives, as well as the novel’s local and international reception.

Source: Open Research Europe

DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.17816.2

Author: Bernadette Ščasná

Institution: Tallinn University

Language: English

Topic: Central European Literary Studies

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $841

Funders: European Commission, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020 European Research Council