Česká moderna

Česká moderna was a group of young Czech writers in the 1890s.

The origin goes back to the Česká moderna manifesto from 1895. The author of this work was the poet Josef Svatopluk Machar . Due to disagreements in the group, it soon fell into disuse.

The group did not have a uniform artistic program. This was mainly due to the different literary orientations of the members. She tried to enforce the right to an individual view of art and individualism , that is, independence from social norms. The group agreed above all on non-conformism , by which they understood the separation from the ruling politics.

Česká moderna differed mainly from the older generation of Czech literature. They fought with the pen against the representatives of Lumír and the realists . Works by Karel Havlíček Borovský and Jan Neruda served as models for the individual representatives .

The representatives of the group included Otokar Březina , František Václav Krejčí , Josef Svatopluk Machar , Vilém Mrštík , František Xaver Šalda , Josef Karel Šlejhar and Antonín Sova .