Department for Research into 20th Century Literature

This Department, which brings together researchers from the Prague and Brno branches, was established on 1.1.2003 with the aim of focusing on research into 20th century Czech literature. Three methodological approaches are applied throughout the work of the Department: the literary-historical approach as well as that involving interpretation issues and issues surrounding the poetics of a work.

Three projects are currently under way at the Department. These follow on closely from the activities of the former Department of Contemporary Literature and deal with literature from the end of the Second World War.

The first involves the completion and final editing of the History of Czech Literature 1945-1989, the organizational and material base for which was provided by a six-year project with a GACR grant awarded to Vladimír Macur and Pavel Janoušek (1997-2002). This involves the broad history of post-war literature, with emphasis not only on the issues surrounding historical poetics (transformations in poetry, prose, drama, popular literature, literature for children and young people, and non-fiction) but also on a broad mapping of literary life and literary communication (censorship, publishing, magazines and journals, literature on audiovisual media - film, radio, television). The Editor-in-Chief is Pavel Janoušek, and the Editorial Board comprises Petr Čornej, Blahoslav Dokoupil, Pavel Janáček, Vladimír Křivánek and Jiřina Táborská. The authorial team with over thirty members also includes external collaborators from institutes of higher education and other academic establishments. A working version is progressively being made available on the web (see Texts section). A side-product of this comprehensive project is the four-volume Anthology of Literary Thought 1945-89, which presents contemporary literary journalism from the periodical press (edited by Michal Přibáň), the first three volumes of which have already been published, while the fourth and final one is ready for publication.

The History links in with the second task of the Department: work on the grant-aided Czech Literature in the 1990s: A Collection of Interpretative Studies (GACR, 2003-2004). This project, led by Jiří Zizler, focuses on a period which saw fundamental changes in literary life. Its aim is to present and analyse works of poetry, prose and drama which are characteristic of the decade, to record the trends in individual literary genres and the transformation of the literary milieu, and thus to make this literature accessible to Czech culture. The project will combine literary-historical methodology with interpretative text analysis.

A third project, directed by Michal Přibáň, involves the creation of an online Dictionary of Postwar Czech Literature. This project is based on entries from lexicographical work performed at the ICL during the 1990s (the Dictionary of Czech Writers since 1945 and the Dictionary of Czech Literary Journals, Periodical Literary Anthologies and Almanachs will be updated and supplemented (both from the contemporary and historical standpoint), while the index of persons and journals will be extended on an ongoing basis and it is anticipated that entries on institutions which substantially contributed to post-war literary life will also be compiled.

Members of the Department teach at institutes of higher education (Charles University Catholic Theological Faculty, Charles University Pedagogical Faculty, Charles University Philosophical Faculty, Masaryk University Philosophical Faculty and Palacký University Philosophical Faculty).

Department members

Projects

Collective:

• History of Czech Literature 1945-1989
• Czech Literature in the 1990s: A Collection of Interpretative Studies

Individual

• Vladimír Křivánek: Vladimír Holan (ASCR GA grant-aided project)