The centerpiece of the dissertation is my translation of four collections of poetry by Czech poet and 1984 Nobel Prize winner Jaroslav Seifert: City in Tears (1921), Sheer Love (1923), On the Waves of TSF (1925), and The Nightingale Sings Poorly (1926). I am the first professional translator of the four volumes, authorized by the estate of Jaroslav Seifert. Chapter I is a biographical overview charting the poet's life and career. It briefly outlines important influences, Seifert's political and aesthetic affiliations and provides a historical context for the translated volumes. Chapter II offers a close look at Seifert's development during the 1920s and explores the poetics as well as the historical events marking the shift of the Czech avant-garde artists union Devetsil from the doctrine of proletarian art to poetism. I also discuss the major native and international influences that converge in Seifert's early poetry. Chapter III focuses on the individual four collections and traces their respective genesis in the context of Devetsil, their changing aesthetics, and their publication history. Close textual readings of major themes and of important individual poems complete this discussion.; The existing English translations of Jaroslav Seifert's works and their theories are the main emphasis of Chapter IV. I show why some of the few translations to-date are unsatisfactory or even erroneous. This section also serves as a rationale for my own translation theory and practice. Next, Chapter V contains my original translations of the poet's first four books that are guided by the idea of congeniality. I also follow the originals, each in its first printing, in typography, layout and pagination. Finally, Chapter VI consists of full annotation for each volume, supplying explanatory notes where appropriate and necessary.
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