Translations in the Collection Slovenska Talija [Slovene Thalia]

This chapter presents Slovenska Talija [Slovene Thalia], a collection of Slovene origi­nals and translations of dramatic works and plays published by the Dramatic Society in Ljubljana between 1867 and 1896, its influence on the development of original Slovene drama and drama translation, and its overall impact on the emergence of Slovene theatre. Since most of the texts in the collection, in fact as many as 92%, were translations, the chapter starts by discussing the general policy outline of translations of Slovene literary texts in the second half of the 19th century. Next, the chapter attempts to answer to what extent did the Dramatic Society’s translation policy follow or deviate from the wider translation policy of literary texts in the Slovene crownlands of the Habsburg monarchy. In this regard, bilingualism is identified as an important element influencing both the selection of texts to be translated and, consequently, the overall Slovene theatre production of the period. Further to this, the chapter turns to the question of whether the plays published in Slovenska Talija can be considered an important contribution to the establishment, professionalisation, and institutionali­sation of the Slovene national theatre, and concludes by discussing the development of drama criticism of original and translated plays in this early period of organised theatre in Slovenia.