The Establishment Period: Academic History, Publication of Classics

After the establishment of the Czech Language Institute in 1946, preparations got under way in the Third Class of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and Arts for a research institute focusing on Czech literature. In June 1947, its organizational code was approved and on 1st September 1948 the Institute of Czech Literature started work. It was to be headed alternately by three figures: A. Pražák, F. Wollman and J. Mukařovský. The moving spirit behind the Institute from the outset until 1958 was the Secretary, R. Havel, and the new body received its first large-scale task when the Museum of Czech Literature was to be set up in the renovated Strahov Monastery after the forcible removal of the Premonstratensians. Under the editorship of J. Mukařovský and F. Vodička, the schedule was formulated and Institute staff took a decisive role in determining the documentary provisions and the spacial arrangements. The National Literary Archives were opened in 1953, the Institute having already made its new home in the monastery. In 1953 it transferred to the newly established CSAS, having already admitted its first research students in autumn 1952. J Mukařovský was appointed Director of the new research centre and F. Vodička became his Deputy, while the individual departments were headed by external staff such as J. Hrabák, F. Vodička and K. Krejčí. The chief objectives of the new Institute included work on a History of Czech Literature (three volumes came out, though the third was not allowed to be published in 1970), critical editions of the collected writings of prominent representatives of Czech literature (B. Němcová, J. Neruda, J. K. Tyl, J. Wolker, K. H. Mácha, S. K. Neumann and F. X. Šalda), commemorations of early Czech literature, the establishment of a Critical Library at Československý spisovatel and a representative selection of classic Czech literature, the hundred-volume National Library. A publication centre was set up for this work at the Institute, headed by R. Skřeček. It systematically began to build up a retrospective bibliography of Czech literature under J. Nečas. During the 1950s, the Institute grew to include other departments: in 1954 it took over the Department for Philological Documentation, whose mission was to record material from early Czech literature; in 1955 the S. K. Neumann Department was established with the task of preparing an edition of his writings and compiling a bibliography; 1956 saw the establishment of the Department for the Study of Czech Theatre, headed by F. Černý, which produced a four-volume History of the Czech Theatre, and the Brno Branch of the Institute was established in 1961.

The 1960s: structuralism in conflict with the dogmas

As the young staff members had matured professionally, the external departmental heads were replaced in 1959 by internal directors. Individual research sections supervised the activity of academic institutes but the Central Committee of the Communist Party increasingly interfered in the work of the Institute in a crude and direct manner. This became particularly evident in the late 1950s, when literary scholars attempted to rid the field of the most strident vulgarizations. Attempts to use the procedures of structuralism met with the resistance of the jealous guardians of purity of Marxist literary studies. At a two-day meeting at Dobříš Chateau arranged by the cultural propaganda department of the Communist Central committee under the guise of the Association of Czechoslovak Writers, the Institute came under criticism and a press campaign was launched against J. Mukařovský and the Institute itself. At the Department of Literary Studies (headed by V. Dostál) of the Communist Central Committee Institute of Social Sciences (headed by L. Štoll) a proposal was put forward to set up the main literary studies centre there, while the activities of the Academy ICL would be limited to bibliographical and publication work. Some ICL staff were approached regarding a transfer to the Institute with the prospect of an early return in management positions (but they all refused). Finally the Central Committee Secretariat decided to merge the Institute of Social Sciences with the ICL. In 1962, J. Mukařovský was replaced as Director by L. Štoll and the position of F. Vodička as Deputy Director was taken over by J. Petrmichl. The ICL divided into two camps and heated professional disputes of a basic conceptual nature over ideas took place throughout the 1960s. These did not remain confined to the Institute (e.g. Brabec's criticism of Štoll's book Thirty Years of Struggle for Czech Socialist Poetry in Literární Noviny, which was dealt with at the CSAS Presidium as a dispute between a Director and an employee). A number of works were written against the wishes of the Director (e.g. the final phase of the blue Dictionary of Czech Writers, where writers in exile were also successfully included; after the intervention of the Director, only R. Jakobson, Collection on the Birthday of J. Mukařovský, Structure and Sense of the Literary Work and some others remained excluded.

These conflicts resulted in the departure of L. Štoll from the Institute in 1968, when F. Vodička became Director. He managed to created a new policy for the Institute, but was prevented from implementing it by a serious illness and the subsequent onset of normalization.

Normalization: Twilight Zone of the Lexicon and Theoretical Compendia

From 1970 to 1972, when the ICL was headed by V. Brett, some twenty members had to leave, the Institute was merged with another academic establishment the Institute of Languages and Literatures and it was renamed the Institute of Czech and World Literature. After the purge, L. Štoll was reinstated as the Director, and the position of Deputy was assumed by H. Hrzalová, who upon Štoll's death in 1981 took over as Director of the Institute with Deputies M. Zeman and S. Wollman. The badly incapacitated Institute only gradually recovered from the blows it had been dealt.

Young newcomers arrived on the scene, however, and the undoubtedly more liberal atmosphere at the ICL, in comparison, for example, with that of the Department of Czech Literature at Charles University Philosophical Faculty, aided their relatively rapid professional development. Concentrated mainly at the Department of Literary Theory, they created, for example, a high-standard Dictionary of Literary Theory (the subsequent form of which was anonymously influenced from outside by M. Kačer, who had been expelled from the Institute), under the editorship of V. Macura an extensive Dictionary of World Literary Works was produced and a Guide to World Literary Theory was written in the Department itself. In the 1980s, the orientation of the Department towards historical poetics bore fruit (Poetics of Czech Interwar Literature). The remains of the old Institute at the Lexicography Department focused on the creation of a four-volume basic compendium of Czech literary studies, the Lexicon of Czech Literature. These positive activities in the midst of the normalization wasteland were undoubtedly also influenced by uninterrupted contacts between Institute staff and those who had had to leave; these took place at regular private meetings ("the bear leaders") which were selflessly arranged throughout the period by J. Kolár.

The 1990s: departures and returns, continuation and a new start

November 1989 brought about changes in the management of the Institute (Director Z. Pešat, Deputy V. Macura) and its staff. A substantial number of those who had been expelled during normalization returned and several less professionally competent individuals left the Institute on the basis of attestations. Pedagogical collaboration with institutes of higher education grew considerably in extent. To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of J. Mukařovský in 1991, an international conference was arranged, which after years of malicious criticism of structuralism, expressed appreciation of its importance for modern aesthetic thought and highlighted those aspects which are still inspiring. Work also continued on the main team projects and new programmes were added. An extensive two-volume Dictionary of Czech Writers Since 1945 carried on from the Lexicon of Czech Literature. Its publication was completed in 1998 and it represented an important initial stage in research and material collection for the challenging History of Czech Literature Since 1945 project. The Department of Contemporary Literature is now working on it together with external collaborators. Similarly, work began at the Department for the Study of Czech Theatre on the development of modern theatre production since 1945.There were also organizational changes. The old Brno branch, which separated in the 1980s, returned to the Institute. The Research Information Section, i.e. the Library and Bibliography, focused more on assisting the broader professional public. The Institute also moved. Thanks to the former Minister of National Defence, L. Dobrovský, it found a home in 1991 at the Jiří z Poděbrad Barracks on Republic Square after it was compelled to leave the Strahov Monastery, which was returned to the Order of Premonstratensians.

After 1990, the Institute was planned as a closely interconnecting establishment where research into Czech literature combined with literary theory was to take place against the backdrop of world literatures, which in turn were to be studied more in connection with the requirements of Czech literature. Unfortunately, this policy failed due to a marked reduction in the budget for the Institute in 1993. Some thirty employees left the Institute, including entire departments: the Department for the Study of Czech Theatre was to go over to the Charles University Philosophical Faculty according to an undertaking of the Academic Attestation Commission. This did not take place, however, and its members dispersed to various institutions (e.g. the Theatre Institute, the Academy of Performing Arts and Charles University Philosophical Faculty). Former staff at the Department of World Literature subsequently left for various departments at the Charles University Philosophical Faculty and the reconstituted Chair of Comparative Studies. Members of both departments thus paid for their support of an integrated, interactive research institute, as their efforts were unsuccessful to persuade the Academic Attestation Commission, which ordered the restriction on our fields of study and associated fields, that the Institute for Czech and World Literature actually comprises three fields, which could also be independent entities, and that it is illogical for independent institutions to exist at the Academy for the study of music and art, and yet for drama studies to be abolished. Of course, this argument did not aim to cause any difficulties for the institutes concerned. A similar argument pointed out that it was illogical to restore the Institute of Slavonic Studies at the Academy (although it indeed already had a rich pre-war tradition of high-standard, primarily linguistic work, such as the Old Slavonic Dictionary) and almost simultaneously to close down research into Western European literatures in it. Hence the first task awaiting the new Director, Vladimír Macura, and his Deputy, Pavel Janoušek    , who came into office with the creation of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic on 1.2.1993, was the consolidation of the radically diminished Institute. It was necessary to secure research into national literature, particularly in those areas which require teamwork that cannot be performed under current conditions at institutes of higher education. Ultimately, the worst scenario did not take place, thanks to the introduction of a grant system, which to a large extent has compensated for the reduction in institutional funds. This has enabled the Institute, at least to a limited extent, to carry on its previously planned Czech studies tasks and to gradually take on new ones. Mention should at least be made of the establishment of the Czech Electronic Library Department, which is preparing a digital database of Czech poetry published in book form in the 19th century. This database is meant to serve as a starting-point for all-round studies of the collected texts (poetics, vocabulary and the existence of reliable canonical texts for further publication of individual works). For the first time the Institute programme also includes examination of theoretical questions surrounding the poetics of literary works, and most bibliographical work is now being transferred to digital format. The History of Czech Literature Since 1945 and the completion of the Lexicon of Czech Literature remain key tasks.

There has also been an increase in the participation of the Institute in scholarly conferences, both those which it has organized and those where it has acted as co-organizer (e.g. on the Czech national anthem, Václav Černý, 1960s Czech literature and F. L. Čelakovský). Regular postgraduate seminars are also arranged for young Czech studies novices from the Institute and other research, pedagogical and cultural establishments. A special feat was accomplished in June 1995 with the 1st Congress of World Czech Literary Studies, where literary researchers, translators and promoters of Czech literature from all over the world (over 100 participants from 22 countries) came together for the first time. This enabled numerous contacts to be made between domestic and foreign bohemists and also contributed to raising the profile of Czech literary studies and the ASCR ICL as a natural research and information centre and a material base for research into Czech literature. Thus in spite of everything, the Institute was able to present itself to the public in 1997 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its activities as a consolidated and effective institution.

In 1999, the Institute moved to a new home. Just at the time when concerns were mounting over equipping its new home, the Institute suffered a heavy and painful loss: on 17.4.1999 its Director, Vladimír Macura, died after confronting a cruel illness up until the last moment. It was mainly thanks to him that the Institute had opened up to domestic and world Czech studies and to a broader public, and had become a dignified and respected part of humanities research at the Academy of Sciences. After a competitive interview procedure, his previous Deputy, Pavel Janoušek, became the new Director on 1.11.1999 and he chose Petr Čornej as his Deputy. He stayed in the Institute management until February 2001. The work of Vladimír Macura as head of the Institute came to a symbolic close in early July 2000, when domestic and foreign delegates arrived in Prague for the 2nd Congress of World Czech Literary Studies. (Written by Zdeněk Pešat with the assistance of an outline history of the Institute by Rudolf Havel.)

After Vladimír Macura's death, his former deputy Pavel Janoušek took over as the new director on 1.11.1999 following a selection procedure. The post of deputy was then successively held by Petr Čornej  (2000-2001), Alice Jedličková (2001-2007) and Karel Piorecký (from 2009). Under Mr Janoušek's direction the Institute continued to pursue its activities. In addition to its ongoing historical, lexicographical and information-providing tasks, its three-volume theoretical project Poetics of the Twentieth Century Literary Work achieved considerable prominence.  Work started on the Czech Electronic Library project, a full-text database of 19th and 20th century Czech poetry, which was recently made available online. 

An extensive internal debate took place during 2002, resulting in a new structure for the Institute as of 1.1.2003. A new element in the literary historical field was that in addition to ongoing research into text poetics, two teams were formed, one of which focused on narratological issues, while the other focused on text issues in their various forms. A new direction was opened up by the Department for Research into Literary Culture, involving research into 19th and particularly 20th century popular literature and the social mechanisms of literary life. In the historical field, the Department for the History of Literature and the Department for Research into 20th Century Literature began working side by side.  The former focused primarily on completing the Lexicon of Czech Literature, whose publication was successfully completed in 2008 with the fourth volume, while it also started work on the publication of sources on the history of Czech literary thought. The latter completed its four-volume History of Czech Literature 1945-1989 (as well as its associated publication, In the Coordinates of Freedom, on 1990s literature). The contribution made to scholarship by these two key tasks was confirmed by a number of awards which they won in 2009. In a Lidové noviny poll the Lexicon was named Book of the Year and it also received a  Magnesia  Litera award for its contribution to Czech literature, while the History won the Josef Hlávka award. The increasing importance of electronic media was reflected at the Institute by the creation of an Internet Dictionary of Czech Literature since 1945 (which in future is to tie in with the electronic version of the Lexicon of Czech Literature).

The Institute carried on its conference organization activities. For instance, it has started to arrange regular March interdisciplinary conferences on the issues surrounding 20th century literature and culture (in Olomouc in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts there), as well as autumn colloquia on literary life. The Third Global Czech Literary Studies Congress took place in 2005. Czech Academy of Sciences President Václav Pačes was also successfully persuaded that the Academy should provide direct financial support for foreign bohemists' research fellowships. As a result the Institute has been able to accept some ten trainees every year since 2007.

Since 1.1.2008 the legal and economic status of the Institute has substantially altered, as like all the other Academy of Sciences institutes it has been transformed into a public research institute. This enhancement of its independence has also meant the creation of a new governing body: in addition to the reelected Director Pavel Janoušek, an elected nine-member Council has also started taking part in the direct management of the Institute. It is headed by Pavel Janáček, under whose direction a number of in-house regulations have been adopted, setting out the rules for the operation of the Institute. The Council has also decided to carry out an internal "audit" of operations at the Institute itself and at its individual departments, resulting in a document adopted in 2008 entitled ASCR ICL Research Activities Policy for the Next Five to Ten Years. The first step towards its implementation was the remerger of the two theoretical departments, as well as preparations for the creation of an independent team for research into older literature.  

(Napsal Zdeněk Pešat s použitím náčrtu vývoje Ústavu sestaveného Rudolfem Havlem.)