Ruští spisovatelé o umění překladu

The paper elaborates on a selection of canonical texts by Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765), Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), and Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), reflecting on the art of literary translation. A thorough analysis of these writings, covering the period from the mid-18 century to the mid-20 century, reveals a striking continuity of thought, especially in terms of the Russian writers’ perception of their mother tongue and of poetry as the national language’s subtlest manifestation. All the texts analysed are, more than anything else, marked by the Muse of poetry, a key feature defining Russian national mentality.