PROPHETIC The front cover of
Robot Unibersal ni Rossum (R.U.R.) by Karel Čapek, in Filipino. Illustrations by John Sherwin Acampado. Book design by Ryan Cuatrona
In an era defined by fast-moving digital transformations and technological innovations, little did everyone know that a hundred years ago, a Czech playwright named Karel Čapek had a prophetic vision of a sub-human life capable of performing the work of humans. He called it robot.
To commemorate the centennial of the world
robot, the Czech Embassy in Manila in cooperation with Ateneo de Naga University Press has issued the translation of
R.U.R., a drama by Karel Čapek in Filipino, where the world
On May 1, we observed Labor Day, an annual holiday in most countries dedicated to championing workers’ rights. In the Philippines, Labor Day this year also marked the centennial of the word “robot” with the launch of the Filipino translation of Rossumovi Universal ni Roboti, better known by its acronym R.U.R., by Czech playwright Karel Čapek. The translation was a project of the Czech Embassy in Manila and the Ateneo de Naga University Press.
The three-act play premiered at the Czech National Theater in Prague on Jan. 25, 1921. Within two years, it made its way to London and New York. On television, it holds the honor as the oldest sci-fi program to have been broadcast, debuting 83 years ago on BBC. R.U.R. has been translated and performed in more than 30 countries.
Launch Poster of the R.U.R. book (Embassy of the Czech Republic)
R.U.R, a play involving a factory that builds artificial people who would become servants to humans, had its inaugural staging at the Czech National Theatre on January 25, 1921, and has since been translated and performed in more than 30 countries.
While Čapek was credited to be the first person to have used the term, it was his brother Josef, a cubist painter, who had come up with the term which came from the Slavic word ‘Robota’ that means “serfdom” or “forced labor” and perfectly encompasses the play.