Translations and Performances of Slovenian Drama Abroad

Gašper Troha

The paper analyses the translations of Slovenian dramas from the 1980s onward. In the final decades of the former Yugoslavia, promoting Slovenian culture throughout Yugoslavia was a political priority. With the independence of Slovenia, Slovenian theatre experienced a significant narrowing of its operative space, which demanded a reorientation of international promotion. Promotion thus shifted towards Western Europe and only after 2000, once again sought out old ties in the Balkans. To what extent, therefore, does the image of translations and performances reflect a cultural-political priority? Which dramas have most often been performed? Has their selection been connected with the self-promotion of authors or with the intentional efforts of certain theatre festivals such as the Week of Slovenian Drama and the Maribor Theatre Festival?

Gašper Troha graduated from the Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory of the Faculty of Arts and from the Academy of Music, both of the University of Ljubljana. In 2007, he received his PhD with the dissertation Artikulacija odnosa do oblasti v slovenski drami 1943–1990 [The Articulation of the Relationship to Authority in Slovenian Drama 1943–1990]. His research focuses on the sociology of literature, especially as related to contemporary world and Slovenian drama and theatre. He teaches at the Faculty of Arts and was also the programme director of the Vilenica International Literary Festival (2010–2013) and the general director of the Creativity Directorate at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia (2013–2014).