Svatopluk Čech

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Svatopluk Čech

Svatopluk Čech (born February 21, 1846 in Ostředek near Benešov , Bohemia, † February 23, 1908 in Prague ) was a Czech poet, prose writer, journalist and globetrotter. He was born the son of an estate manager.

Life

In Prague he attended high school and later studied law. He wrote for the magazines Ruch and Květy , and from 1871 he was editor of Světozor . From 1873 to 1876 he moved to Lumír and worked briefly for Národní listy . In 1873 he was a member of a law firm in Slaný , but then moved to Prague in the same year.

He enjoyed traveling and visiting the Caucasus , Croatia , Denmark , Poland , Italy and Paris . He spent the end of his life in Prague, where a bridge and a park have been named after him .

Works

His work is characterized by extreme national commitment combined with socially critical elements. He is above all a poet, but also wrote prose, with the “Journeys of Mr. Brouček”, not least because it was set to music as an opera by Leoš Janáček , is still his best-known work today.

His works are heavily influenced by Karel Hynek Mácha . Above all, he wrote epics with many comparisons and descriptions, with which he interrupts the course of his stories. He describes the feelings of the bourgeoisie. He often goes back to the past, his verses are patriotic , he deals with democratic ideas and social justice.

In the historical epic The Hussite on the Baltic States (Husita na Baltu), he compares the Hussite wars with interpersonal relationships among people. In Václav z Michalovic he tells a story from the time after the battle of the White Mountain . Europe (Evropa) is a symbolic epic . The story takes place on the sea. There is an uprising on the ship Europa. The main idea is the unity of the Slavs . The Lešetín Blacksmith (Lešetínský kovář) is a social novel. In the shade of the linden tree (Ve stínu lípy) is an idyllic epic of the return of a Bohemian to the countryside, to the Bohemian countryside - homecoming. In reality, these are memories of the author's youth.

Statue of Svatopluk Čech

The lyric work The Songs of Dawn (Jitřní písně) is a satire set in verse with socialist thoughts. He puts himself in the role of a popular speaker. The poems have a meditative character. The work The songs of the slave (Písně otroka) with 23 poems, published in 1895, is a reaction to political events. He wanted to shake up the people because he suspected that the people were being oppressed. It is an allegory of the struggle against oppression. The book was very popular.

In the satire Hanuman he depicts a monkey state - a satire on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . In Habicht counterproductive turtledove (Jestřáb counterproductive Hrdlička), he told in satirical and humorous way the history of Matej Brouček. This is a typical petty bourgeoisie, avaricious, jealous. He comes to the Hussites and this is where his cowardice shows. Other works dealt with the Hussite period and stories from the lawyers' environment.

  • Ve stínu lípy , idyllic epic, Prague 1879 (dramatization: R. Jurda, 1946)
  • Pravý výlet pana Broučka do měsíce , 1888
  • Nový epochální výlet pana Broučka tentokráte do 15. století , 1889 (setting of both stories as an opera in two parts by Leoš Janáček : The Excursions of Mr. Brouček , WP 1920)
  • Písnĕ otroka , cycle of political poems, Prague 1895 (German songs of a slave , Verlag JHW Dietz Nachf., Stuttgart 1897)
  • The Adamites , German Dresden 1912
  • Dagmar , German Dresden 1923
  • Novellas , German Leipzig no year
  • Among books and people . Narration, German Leipzig no year.

literature

Web links

Notes and sources

  1. Výlety páně Broučkovy: 1. Výlet pana Broučka do měsíce, 2. Výlet pana Broučka do 15. století (Mr. Brouček's excursions: 1. to the moon and 2. into the 15th century , premiered 1920 in Prague)