Orphaned by Dictators. The Paradoxes of Generational Change in Czech and Polish Literature after 1989 Cover Image

Sieroty po dyktatorach. Paradoksy zmiany pokoleniowej w polskiej i czeskiej literaturze po 1989 roku
Orphaned by Dictators. The Paradoxes of Generational Change in Czech and Polish Literature after 1989

Author(s): Agata Firlej
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Czech Literature
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: transformation; totalitarianism; culture; Czech Republic

Summary/Abstract: This essay is devoted to reflection (on Czech and Polish literary and drama examples) on the moment of transition, when the totalitarian regime gives way to the democratic tendencies. The expansion of popular literature, many cultural offerings coupled with the development of the Internet (with all the consequences of this mental phenomenon), cause among others, a reduction of the importance of literature and frustration of the creators, who fought the previous regime. Retiring totalitarianism – and its essence is the politicization of all forms of social existence – leaves a kind of ‘void’; this in turn results in paradoxical sense of longing for the past and leads former dissidents to perceive the new reality as hostile. There is a growing sense of a danger (the thesis of „the destruction of intelligence”: M. Kundera, B. Skarga, M. Janion, P. Czapliński), a nostalgic literature appears (A. Stasiuk, I. Dousková, P. Brycz) as well as the new theatre plays, exploiting the sense of disintegration, demonstrating the disappointment of current times (L. Balák, D. Drábek, J. Topol).

  • Issue Year: 64/2016
  • Issue No: 7
  • Page Range: 149-160
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish