Review article
Švejk as a Problem in the History of Twentieth-Century Czech Philosophy
Jiří Hrabal
; Palacký University Olomouc
Abstract
The author deals with the transformations that took place in reflections upon “Švejk” within the Czech philosophical discourse in the course of the twentieth century. Although numerous studies (spanning a diverse range of disciplines, from literary history to cultural studies) have been written within both the Czech and the international context about Hašek’s novel The Good Soldier Švejk, as well as about the ever-proliferating cultural product referred to as “Švejk”, to date nobody has focused systematically on how the phenomenon of Švejk has been reflected upon by Czech philosophers. The author traces and compares texts by Czech philosophers from T. G. Masaryk, J. L. Fischer, J. Patočka, K. Kosík, K. Mácha, L. Hejdánek, E. Kohák to V. Bělohradský, and arrives at the conclusion that within the Czech philosophical discourse of the 20th century “Švejk” takes on the character of a transversal subject, whose identity is guaranteed rather by the designation itself than by reference to Hašek’s novel, and is therefore a product of a constantly transforming discourse. His substantialisation is therefore just as impossible as the substantialisation of the character of the literary figure of Josef Švejk. However, the individual versions of “Švejks” have been influenced by contemporary readings of Hašek’s novel and conceptions of Švejk within the collective memory.
Keywords
Czech philosophy; novel; literary figure; Czech identity; national character; Central Europe; Švejk; Jaroslav Hašek
Hrčak ID:
312608
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2023.
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