“There is a need for a change…” On the expressive possibilities of political and social commitment in contemporary Czech prose Cover Image

Chtělo by to změnu… K výrazovým možnostem angažovanosti v současné české próze
“There is a need for a change…” On the expressive possibilities of political and social commitment in contemporary Czech prose

Author(s): Petr Hrtánek
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Contemporary Czech prose; literary engagement; means of expression; critical discussion

Summary/Abstract: The debate about the so-called “engaged literature” is one of the significant discussions in recent Czech literary life. The discussed concept was soon realized especially in poetic works, although in contemporary Czech fiction appeared several prosaic books that are reviewed in the context of the mentioned discussion: among others, they are novels Mafie v Praze (Mafia in Prague, 2011) and Mráz přichází z Kremlu (Frost is coming from the Kremlin, 2012) by Michal Viewegh or the prose Skutečná událost (The Real Event, 2013) by Emil Hakl. Based on analyses of these books, this study attempts to present literary engagement as the category of expression in contemporary Czech prose, as the category that is—in this specific case—realized in a range of two different orientations: on one hand, it is orientated to pop-literature (M. Viewegh), on the other hand, it is orientated to art ambitious works of fiction (E. Hakl)

  • Issue Year: 7/2015
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 53-65
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Czech