How and Why to Denominate What We Do? An Issue of Slovak Translation of the Term "Digital Humanities"

The main goals of the paper is to identify the Slovak translation variants of the English term,digital humanities" and, subsequently, to summarize the translatological strategies which are implemented in using the translation variants. In a number of non-English speaking countries it is common to use the original English term,digital humanities" or its abbreviation DH. There is a discussion held in those countries as to how to translate this neologism (and whether to translate it at all), and it is considered necessary to open the discussion in the national academic environment, too. What is problematic in the discussion is the contradiction between the effort to systematically develop the particular national terminology and the difficulty to translate the expression exactly and accurately. This contradiction is shown in the national terminology environment by the intention to strictly translate,digital humanities" into Slovak (most often as,digitalne humanitne vedy") and by an opposite tendency to keep the term in the original English version. It is believed that mapping of the existing Slovak translations of the term and explanation of the arguments which can support the use of them may help open and productively steer the translatological discussion.