Department for Research into 19th Century Literature
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/, On the Czech Scientific Literature /Academia, In print/, M. Otruba: In Search of National Literature /In print/). 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/, co-organizer of the conference Jung Prag und die Frühlingsgeneration /2011/). They participate in the edition Literature to Download (exhibition K. J. Erben 1811 – 2011 /2011/, Jaroslav Vrchlický 1853-1912-2012 /2012/).
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 Nibelungenlied, 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.
Grant projects:
The Terminology of Literary Realism(M. Hrdina, GA ČR 2012–14)
The aim of the project is to provide a clear characterization of various critical and scholarly conceptions of Czech literary realism. Discourse analysis of critical manifestations will focus on determining the key moments in discussions of Czech literary realism, and the result should be a more precise distinction between various historical interpretations of Czech literary realism. The summary of scholarly conceptions of realism based on models with various methodological bases could form the basis for the development of new conceptions. A supplementing section will be an annotated edition of representative texts from critical discussions and polemics over realism in Czech literature.
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)
- Czech literary Realism and its contemporary Reception (M. Fránek)
- 19th century literature and terminology of literary criticism (M. Hrdina)
- History of Czech epos in the 19th century, concepts of Czech and German national myths in literature of the 1st half of the 19th century (I. Krejčová)
- critical edition of the novel „Král Ferdinand V. Dobrotivý a jeho doba“ by K. Sabina (M. Charypar)
- German and Czech reception of the epic „Žiška“ by A. Meissner (L. Di Bisceglie)
Departmental members:
PhDr. Dalibor Dobiáš, Ph.D. (Departmental Director)