The possibilities of verse translation: the reception of American poetry in Slovenia between the two wars

Abstract

Contemporary American poetry was more or less terra incognita in Slovenia throughout the first half of the 20th century. The thesis question, then, is why are there so few translations of American poetry into Slovene in the discussed period between the two world wars? Although this subject has not been treated in detail, the best critica1 reference is to be found in the study »American Poetry in Slovene Translations« by Mirko Jurak, Janez Stanonik's research of American-Slovene relations, and Velemir Gjurin's work on Griša Koritnik, one of the foremost verse translators of the period, and his translation of E. A. Poe's poem »The Raven«.