Toulky českou minulostí 18 - Velká éra české poezie, meziválečná avantgarda, poetismus, surrealismus – Volný Zdeněk (2022)

The eighteenth volume of Wandering Through Czech History, authored by Zdeněk Volný, is dedicated primarily to Czech literary creation during the interwar period. This two-decade span remains its peak period: after overcoming the depression from the horrors of World War I, literature and art developed in various directions stemming from different artistic and political visions of authors and individual literary groups. From the cruel post-war poverty emerged the so-called proletarian poetry led by Jiří Wolker. The opening of more hopeful life perspectives then spurred the emergence of the enchanting poetism and other movements, such as surrealism. The book presents the stories of the greatest figures of interwar poetry and prose: Nobel Prize winner Jaroslav Seifert, Vítězslav Nezval, Konstantin Biebl, and Vladislav Vančura, and includes a chapter on contemporary visual art. In the first two chapters, the text also returns to the Czech decadent movement and its central figures, Jiří Karáska ze Lvovic and Arnošt Procházka. The book brings to light overlooked relationships and realities that academic literary historiography tends to remain silent about, revealing various surprising connections. It entertains but also serves as an attractively presented overview of interwar Czech...