Krása i pravda
Beauty and Truth

The Contours of Prose Fiction in Lumír until 1880

Summary/Abstract: Although it is generally believed that the central contribution Lumír made to original literary work consisted in verse, it is fair to say that this literary magazine also became the elite publication for Czech prose fiction. In the 1870s, when several distinguished editors alternated at its helm, Lumír was able to assemble a body of prose writers who suitably represented several literary groups, generations and styles. This study aims mainly to point out prose fiction tending to various styles and to present an analysis of their share in forming both the existing and the newly emerging literary canon. It thus demonstrates that the prose published in Lumír was a good representation not only of Parnassianism, but also of various Realist poetics and, particularly in historicizing prose, still valid relicts of Romanticism, like the works of Václav Beneš Třebízský (1849–1884). Also connected to this is the diverse spectrum of genres, ranging from the novel and short story to the ‘romanetto’, scenes from life, the arabesque and the sketch.

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