Literární kronika první republiky. Události – díla – souvislosti

Vladimír Barborík, Pavel Janáček, Tomáš Pavlíček, Petr Šámal

A Literary Chronicle of the First Republic is an illustrated work that aims to present the literary scene in the Czechoslovak Republic between 1918 and 1938 in a reader‑friendly and visually attractive manner. The objective of this book is to present the interwar Czechoslovak literary scene in the light of national, cultural and political diversity. In twenty‑one sections, each focusing on one year between 1918 and 1938, A Literary Chronicle of the First Republic shows Czechoslovakia to be a state in which literature had a generally high status in the hierarchy of social values, but where not only classic works from individual national literatures were held in high regard, but also the artistic exploits and political provocations of young avant‑gardistes, and where the population were accustomed to the ongoing influx of the latest translated literature from abroad. Each of these twenty‑one chapters comprises three expository parts. The first is called Events (Události). Using chronologically arranged extracts from literary journals and the daily press, it presents the important new books for the year in question, the creation and demise of literary groups, literary and political polemics, the changing face of cultural institutions and international events. The second is called Contexts (Souvislosti) containing a brief study of a particular topic in one or several of the First Republic national‑language enclaves. In each of the twenty‑one chapters the section entitled Work (Dílo) presents an interpretation of one important work of prose, poetry or drama published in the year in question.The book is the outcome of collaboration between Bohemists, Slovakists, Germano‑bohemists, Ukrainists and Hungarists, literary scholars, archivists, cultural historians and art historians. It was produced in collaboration with the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Czech Literature (PNP) in Prague and the Institute of Slovak Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava.