307 821.163.41-1.09 81’255.4 https://doi.org/10.18485/srp_eng.2022.1.ch21 Sibelan Forrester* Swarthmore College TRANSLATION AND RECEPTION OF SERBIAN POETRY IN THE ANGLOPHONE WORLD: AN ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES Abstract: Poetry can be scarcer than prose in translation: it is more challenging to translate, but it is also less often read as a source of sociological or historical insight into the culture of the original. At the same time, some readers consider poetry the highest literary genre, and linguists have argued that precisely poetry reveals and takes advantage of what each language can do that is most effective and impressive, indeed what might be unique to that language. These unique qualities require attention and inventiveness from translators working in languages that possess different resources. A number of Serbian poets have significant bodies of work translated into English. This paper looks at several recent poems in translation that prove to be effective as poems in English, comparing multiple versions where available, and identifying the challenges faced by translators as well as their successful solutions. Keywords: translation, reception, Serbian poetry, the Anglophone world, Charles Simić. Poetry seems to be less often translated than prose: translators who do not themselves write poetry may consider it harder to translate than literary or essayistic prose, which makes different demands. Poetry is also less often read for sociological or historical insight into the original culture, meaning that it is less likely to be sought and bought as a text for teaching, unless the teaching involves literature; this may discourage potential publishers when they are offered poetry in translation. At the same time, many eager readers of literature consider poetry the highest verbal genre, one that concentrates the action of a language. Linguists who study literary language have argued * sforres1@swarthmore.edu