Time out of joint

Martin Hilský is one of the few Czech humanities scholars who needs no introduction to the general public, while also enjoying extraordinary respect from experts. A legend in Czech English studies, he has taught generations of students for whom encounters with his personality, texts, and translations have been defining. Between 2022 and 2026, translator and editor Petr Onufer conducted a series of conversations with him, which are now being published under the title *Vykloubený čas* (The Time is Out of Joint). In this retrospective interview, he talks about his family, his studies in Prague and Oxford, his professional career as a teacher and translator, the art of translating prose, poetry, and drama, Anglo-American modernism, Shakespeare, and so on. However, it also touches on more controversial topics, such as personal responsibility in the face of an inhuman regime, the individual's relationship with institutions and the establishment, the paradoxical nature of art, and the spiritual direction of human existence. In his answers, Martin Hilský demonstrates perspective, wit, extraordinary erudition combined with rare self-reflection, a perceptive view of the world, and immense personal commitment.