Dobrodružství tvarů: Filozofie Michala Ajvaze v kontextu francouzského estetického myšlení
The Adventure of Forms: Michal Ajvaz’s Philosophy in the Context of French Aesthetic Thought

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with the works of Michal Ajvaz in relation to the French philosophical-aesthetic context, particularly to the books L’Esprit des formes (The Spirit of Forms) by Élie Faure and La vie des formes (The Life of Forms in Art) by Henri Focillon, and, to some extent, to their followers André Malraux and René Huyghe. In Ajvaz’s case, the article is primarily based on his philosophical works Kosmos jako sebeutváření (The Cosmos as Self-Creation) and Dynamický logos (Dynamic Logos) and the novel Pasáže (Passages). The connecting motif between Ajvaz and the texts of the French authors is that of shapes and their dynamic agency. The study aims to confirm Ajvaz’s rootedness in the Euro pean tradition of thought and at the same time to point out the enduring thought-provoking nature of Faure’s and Focillon’s ideas, even though almost a century has passed since they were formulated.

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