2013-06-24

Sciencfikcio & Esperanto (6): H. G. Wells en Esperanto (2)

I now have compiled selective guides / bibliographies of science fiction in English and Esperanto, which also provide a way in to see how science fiction on a global scale is covered in both languages:

Sciencfikcio & Utopia Literaturo en Esperanto / Science Fiction & Utopian Literature in Esperanto: Gvidilo / A Guide

Science Fiction & Utopia Research Resources: A Selective Work in Progress

I recently blogged here listing translations of Wells and mentions of him in Esperanto.  I have just compiled a selective bibliography in English:

H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine: Selected Bibliography

An invaluable work on reception of Wells' landmark novel is:

The Reception of H. G. Wells in Europe, edited by Patrick Parrinder & John S. Partington. London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.

Two articles are of special importance for my research:

Csala, Katalin. “The Puzzling Connection between H. G. Wells and Frigyes Karinthy,” in The Reception of H. G. Wells in Europe, edited by Patrick Parrinder & John S. Partington (London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005), pp. 195-204.
 
Vöő, Gabiella. “Critics and Defenders of H. G. Wells in Interwar Hungary,” in The Reception of H. G. Wells in Europe, edited by Patrick Parrinder & John S. Partington (London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005), pp. 175-194.

Also noteworthy is the "Timeline: European Reception of H. G. Wells" (pp. xxiii-xl). From this extensive chronology I want to single out the first translation in the languages listed, and all the Esperanto translations.

1896: French
          Swedish
1898: Danish
1899: Dutch
          Hungarian
          Norwegian
          Polish
          Portuguese (Brazil)
          Russian
1900  Italian
1901  Czech
1902  Portuguese (Portugal)
          Spanish
1903  Finnish
1911  Estonian
1914  Serbo-Croatian
1918  Icelandic
1921  Bulgarian
          Ukrainian
1923  Slovak
          Slovenian
1924  Catalan
          Lithuanian
1927  Yiddish
1929  Esperanto (UK): When the Sleeper Wakes
1934  Irish
1935  Romanian
1936  Latvian
1937  Esperanto (UK): The Time Machine
1953  Macedonian
1954  Greek
1959  Albanian
          Moldovan
1979  Azerbaijani
1980  Basque
1991  Gallegan

I don't see the first German translation in this list, but it could be 1901. If we count German, we have 37 languages, but subtracting the duplication of Portuguese, we are back to 36 listed between 1896 and 1991, with new languages appearing most sparsely after the 1930s. (The appearance of criticism is not necessarily in synch with the appearance of translations.) The first Esperanto translation listed comes in 25th place just after Yiddish and just before Irish. Then, following Romaniian and Latvian, another Esperanto translation comes in 1937, and no new languages until Macedonian comes along in 1953. One cannot expect this chronology to be be entirely accurate, given for example bibliographical information about Wells in Esperanto presented elsewhere.

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