Diaspora and Emigration: the Dimensions of Existence. »Listy z wygnania« by Egon Hostovský Cover Image

Diaspora i emigracja: wymiary egzystencji. »Listy z wygnania« Egona Hostovskiego
Diaspora and Emigration: the Dimensions of Existence. »Listy z wygnania« by Egon Hostovský

Author(s): Anna Car
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Czech literature; letter; diaspora; exile; dialogue; Egon Hostovsky;

Summary/Abstract: In the following article I analyze the first book of the Jewish Czech writer Egon Hostovsky written in exile, entitled Letters from Exile. Based on the distinction between the categories of diaspora and emigration (exil) as presented by the American scholar Nico Israel in Outlandish: writing between exil and diaspora, I am attempting to show that in his book Hostovsky utilizes both types of discourse: the emigrational and the diasporic, the latter as part of his internalization of the - Jewish fate - experience. The analysis is also built upon the particular letter-writing formula used by Hostovsky, which, in my opinion, points to Martin Buber's theory of dialogue.

  • Issue Year: XII/2012
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 85-106
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Polish