Jugoslav Gospodnetić (1919-2010)

Linguist

Born in Šibenik on the Adriatic Coast in 1919, this renowned linguist, phonetician, historian, and Croatian translator began his studies in Zagreb. After earning degrees in several languages there, he continued that course of study in Rome from 1941-1945. He then returned to Zagreb to teach acting at the School (formerly Academy) of Dramatic Arts. The careful details in his commentaries and notes in this collection demonstrate his scholarly background.

After teaching in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Zagreb (1952-1960) and lecturing in the Faculty of Letters in Bordeaux (1955-1957), he moved to Paris in 1960. There he dedicated himself to more effective methods of teaching oral communication to hard-of-hearing children, developing the “verbo-tonal method” envisioned by Petar Guberina. Appointed Pedagogical Director at the Institute of Applied Phonetics (CPA) in Paris in 1970, he ended his professional career there in 1984 as its Deputy Director.

Now there was more time for his passion — language in its highest form — poetry.  He took great care to preserve the original meter in his translations into French of many great Croatian poems (including those by Tadijanović, Matoš, Ujević, Mažuranić, and Nazor) as well as those by poets from several other European countries. Written shortly before Matoš’ death, “Nocturne/ Notturno” is a well-known example of this feature.

“Nocturne/ Notturno”

His translations have been published in literary and cultural journals, in print and online, such as Most The Bridge and www.cronet.org.  Several of his dramatic readings of Tin Ujević poems have been recorded.  He gave a presentation on this 20^th century Croatian poet at a Paris conference in June 2004.  In addition to his passion for poetry and his writings on phonetics and linguistics, his book Brač i njegovo pomorstvo (L’Île de Brač et sa vocation maritime) was published in 1994.  His work on Nazor’s poems can be found in the catalog of the gallery in Bol, Croatia.

Jugoslav Gospodnetić died in Paris in 2010 where he lived and worked for most of his life.  His youngest son, Neven, and Dominis Publishing are working together to complete the publication of his translations entitled the Multilingual Collection of European Poetry (13 volumes).

Critics

Critics have acknowledged Gospodnetic’s deep and broad knowledge of both Croatian and French, as well as at least six other European languages.  

“Non seulement sur le plan de l’exactitude mais de la beauté, elles sont exceptionnelles, et je vous dis toute mon admiration…  Je suis émerveillé par vos poèmes de Miroslav Krleža.”

– Jean-Michel PALMIER

“J’aime la poésie croate, je connaissais déjà un peu Matoš, mais Tadijanović m’était beaucoup moins familier. … maintenant je peux les lire et les savourer à la fois dans le texte et en français. Je trouve ces traductions très réussies, fidèles et poétiques à la fois, et ce n’est pas facile.”

– Paul GARDE

Mlačno noć; u selu lavež; kasan

Ćuk il’ netopir

Ljubav cvijeća – miris jak i strasan

Slavi tajni pir.

Sitni cvrčak sjetno cvrči, jasan

Kao sreben vir;

Teške oći sklapaju se na san,

S neba rosi mir.

S mrkog tornja bat

Broji prospan sat

Blaga svjetlost sipi sa visinâ;

Kroz samoću, muk,

Sve je tiši huk:

Željeznicu guta već daljina.

Tiède la nuit; aboiements au village; vols tardifs

Chouette ou chauve-souris,

L’amour des fleurs – parfum intensif –

Célèbre ses noces secrètes, assourdies.

Grillon mignon craint clair et plaintif

Comme la source d’argent qui luit fuit;

Les yeux se fermes au sommeil progressif,

Du ciel le calme descend en pluie.

De la tour – une noirceur –

Les coups comptent les heures,

Clarté douce du haut lointain;

Solitude et silence,

Toujours plus sourd la cadence:

La distance avale déjà le train.

Ovim najtoplije preporučam projekt kojim će se nastaviti objavljivanje pronađenih u ostavštini prijevoda iz pera Jugoslava Gospodnetića. Cijelog se on života, uz svoje nastavničko zvanje, bavio i prevođenjem hrvatske poezije. Objavljivanje je započeto 2009. zbirkom poezije Dragutina Tadijanovića, a 2014. zbirkom pjesništva Augusta Gustava Matoša, uvijek u vrijednoj usporednoj formuli izvornika i prijevoda.

Budući da se radi o zamjetnom korpusu prijevoda hrvatskih pjesnika, među kojima je Tin Ujević, Vladimir Vidrić, da samo neke spomenem, koji čekaju svoje čitatelje i književne kritičare, od velike je važnosti da se nastavi sa izdavanjem vrijedne baštine koja čeka. Budući da se radi, u slučaju Tadijanovića i Matoša, o pomno priređenim izdanjima Dominis Publishing iz Kanade koja plijene svojim izgledom i profesionalnošću, treba omogućiti da se cijeli korpus objavi u što kraćem roku. Ovim još jednom naglašavam da se radi o vrijednom, zasad nezamjećenom blagu koji bi francuskoj stručnoj i kulturnoj publici približio hrvatsko pjesništvo. Stoga preporučam sa zadovoljstvom ovaj projekt.”

– Gabrijela VIDAN