Original scientific paper
The First Controversy over Modern Czech Literature between Scholars and Poets
Dalibor Dobiáš
; The Institute for Czech Literature
Abstract
Modern Czech literature, as it emerged at the turn of the nineteenth century, represents not only a (re)construction of older traditions, but also a new communication system in the beginnings of which the Enlightenment science played a decisive role. The fundamental role of science, against an autonomous discussion of literary aesthetics, was perceived by outside observers to extend well into the first half of the nineteenth century. The argument is based on the theory of functional differentiation of the literary system by Siegfried J. Schmidt and it follows the contention between the Slavist Josef Dobrovský and the poet and translator Václav Stach, who – following Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, respectively echoes to the Sturm und Drang movement in the Czech lands of the 1780s – sought a modern poetic authority. In fact, this first major controversy over modern Czech literature once again shows how crucial the period of Joseph II and the crisis at its end were for the cultural history of the Bohemian lands and offers an alternative to its nationally limited interpretations.
Keywords
Czech literature; the first major controversy; the fundamental role of science; literary aesthetics; the Slavist Josef Dobrovský; the poet and translator Václav Stach
Hrčak ID:
249454
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2020.
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