PT Journal
AU Hrtanek, P
TI "There is a need for a change..." On the expressive possibilities of political and social commitment in contemporary Czech prose
SO Bohemica Olomucensia
PY 2015
BP 53
EP 65
VL 7
IS 1
DI 10.5507/bo.2015.004
DE Contemporary Czech prose; literary engagement; means of expression; critical discussion
AB 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 Mraz prichazi z Kremlu (Frost is coming from the Kremlin, 2012) by Michal Viewegh or the prose Skutecna udalost (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)
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