A computational approach to the history of Czech literature in translation during the Cold War (1948–1989)

This article combines bibliographical data science and history of translation to investigate the dissemination of Czech literature in translation during the Cold War era. It describes the choice of data and the pre-processing phase of the research as well as the limitations of the result dataset used for research. It then explores two interconnected hypotheses. The first hypothesis investigates the dynamics of translations across languages during the Cold War. It anticipates extensive circulation within the Eastern bloc initially, followed by a notable decline in translations after its collapse. The second hypothesis delves into dissemination diversity amid Cold War geopolitics. It posits that translation patterns correlate with distinct authorships, favouring ideologically aligned authors in the East, critical ones in the West, and potentially canonical authors transcending these divisions. While some polarization assumptions are supported, the findings reveal substantial heterogeneity across the geopolitical divide and dynamic developments over time.