The department was established on May 1, 2010 and its research concentrates upon Czech literature from the 2nd half of the 18th century to the early 20th century in its Central European context. As a part of their research projects, the members of the department publish 19th century period works (editions of the Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora /Host Publishers, 2010/ and On the Czech Scientific Literature /Academia 2011/). Furthemore, they organize lectures, interdisciplinary colloquiums and conferences (co-organizer of the conference K. J. Erben and the Role of Memory Institutions in the History, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of this 19th century poet, publisher and scientist /2011/).

Current projects:

Reception of the Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora in the Czech literature and culture of the 19th century

The project (project of the Department for Research into 19th Century Literature, 2011) comes after the edition of the Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora for the Host Publishers (2010). Its aim is to discuss the faked „medieval“ Manuscripts in a broader Central European context, to deal with their role not only for the Czech nation building, but also for building of the Czech literature and German literature in the Czech lands in the 19th century. The project is based on several detailed case studies (e.g., the efforts to create a Czech national epos similar to the Illias or Aeneid,  the paradoxes of the early reception of the Manuscripts from the point of view of their later lecture as a mythos). The expected outputs of the project are a collective monograph and a commented anthology of literary texts.

Members of the Department are currently also involved in:

• Origins of the modern Czech verse in the Central European context (D. Dobiáš)
• Discussion about the Humanities and their organization at the last quarter of the 19th century (K. Bláhová Piorecká)
• Works by A. V. Kraus and the origins of the Czech-German comparative studies in the Czech lands (V. Petrbok)
• History of Czech Realism (M. Fránek, M. Hrdina)
• History of Czech epos in the 19th century (I. Krejčová)

Departmental members:

PhDr. Kateřina Bláhová, Ph.D.

PhDr. Dalibor Dobiáš, Ph.D. (Departmental Director)

Mgr. Michal Fránek, Ph.D.

Mgr. Martin Hrdina, Ph.D.

Mgr. Iva Krejčová, Ph.D.

PhDr. Václav Petrbok, Ph.D.