Březiniana II – Holman Petr (2012)

The collage of opinions, mentions, references, and reflections on Otokar Březina comes from people who are both participants and non-participants in the literary life from Czechia and around the world, from various fields, etc., and respond neutrally, passionately, positively, or negatively in letters, reviews, scientific treatises, dedications, etc. to the work or life of the great symbolist poet. However, this is not a project that arose solely from thorough research in libraries. The source also includes correspondence and oral communication in everyday interactions (also via regular and electronic mail, fax, or even telephone answering machines). The authors of Březina's statements or reflections are intentionally cited only by initials, although sources are attached to individual mentions, creating an extensive geographical network indicating Březina's almost planetary omnipresence. Petr Holman does not present a reader on Otokar Březina, but rather a statement about the existence or non-existence of values, forms, and properties of the Březina phenomenon in today's world, or a statement about today's world, which – surprisingly and unconsciously for most of us – is held together by a poet regarded as a classic, someone who is no longer perceived as a living part of culture. For the reader,…