After the translation of Neruda’s Tales of the Lesser Quarter (Povídky malostranské), which has reached the Vietnamese readers already in two editions (the last one in 2019), the enthusiasts of Czech literature in Vietnam will also get to know the satirical dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hašek (1883-1923) called The Good Soldier Švejk (Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války). Behind the translation of the Tales as well as the publishing of the first and second volume of Švejk’s world-famous story is the result of a great effort of the renowned translator and teacher Binh Slavická from the Institute of Asian Studies at CU FA where she leads the programme’s specialization Vietnamese Studies since 2015. Binh Slavická has been raising public knowledge of the Czech literature in Vietnam for many years and, therefore, follows the tradition of translating older Czech authors, such as Božena Němcová, Karel Čapek, Milan Kundera, and others. Tales of the Lesser Quarter in translation by Dr Slavická was placed third in the 2018 ranking of the best literary translations in Vietnam.
The publishing of the extensive and illustrated Hašek’s novel was possible owing to the grant of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the support of twenty sponsors, both from the Czech Republic and Vietnam. The book launch ceremony on the Vietnamese market will be held in Hanoi on 14 November 2020.
