History of Czech Literature 1945-1989

Editor-in-chief: Pavel Janoušek
Editors: Petr Čornej, Blahoslav Dokoupil, Pavel Janáček, Vladimír Křivánek, Jiřina Táborská Subject and language redaction: Alena Šporková
Authors: Přemysl Blažíček, , Věra Brožová, Jan Černý, Petr Čornej, Radka Denemarková, Blahoslav Dokoupil, Eva Formánková, Blanka Hemelíková, Petr Hruška, Pavel Janáček, Pavel Janoušek, Michal Jareš, Vladimír Křivánek, Martin Machovec, Petr Mareš, Jaroslav Med, Dagmar Mocná, Vladimír Papoušek, Michal Přibáň, Richard Svoboda, Petr Šámal, Petr Šisler, Alena Štěrbová, Milena Šubrtová, Jiřina Táborská, Dušan Tomášek, Svatava Urbanová, Milena Vojtková, Aleš Zach.

First two volumes of the "History of Czech Literature 1945 - 1989" are part of the vast project mapping the fortunes of the Czech literature in the era of Communism. The first one is devoted to the inner very inconsistent period of the years 1945 - 1948, in which the distinct tendency to the post-war reconstruction of the differenciated literary life and multiform literary production gradually submits to the pressure of the totalitarian conception of the literature serving as an instrument of the Communist politics and the ideal of the classless society. The second volume describes the after-Febrary start of the socialist realism, i.e. the period of the literature and culture building socialism, and the first manifestations of the nascent conflicts of writers with power, just as they are coming up in the 2nd half of the 50s. It is also an appraisal of the work of writers in exile and writers who got into the inner emigration and out of the official communication.
The history follows the traditional scholarly structure of poetry, prose and drama; it is written in the form of literary history account. It focuses on the wide span of the period literary production (thus not only on the belles-lettres for adults, but also on non-fiction literature, popular reading and literature for children and youth), but at the same time it lays stress on the art value of individual works and their efficiency to address the present reader. With regard to circumstances in which the Czech literature of the 2nd half of the 20th century arose and was reciped, the history pays attention also to problems of literary life and its cultural and politic relationships. Surprisingly, compared with other literary histories, it conducts an investigation into the secondary life of literature in media, i.e. in film, radio and television as well.
After putting out the remaining two parts and following publication of the whole in a book form, the "History of Czech Literature 1945 - 1989" aspires to be an essential quide to the given period and a starting point for another, more detailed exploration.

CONTACT PERSON:

Mgr. Eva Formánková
e-mail: formankova@ucl.cas.cz
More details on the project: http://www.ucl.cas.cz/en/