This blog post looks at how Czech literature and culture contributed to the formation of national identity through turbulent political change.

Medieval literature

The history of Czech literature dates back to the 9th century. In the 9th century, the Old Church Slavonic language, the first written language of the Slavs, was used as the standard language in the Moravian Empire, and it became the oldest literary language of the Slavic literature. At that time, the Great Moravian Empire (present-day Czechoslovakia) was facing religious and military pressure from the Franks. To solve this problem, the Moravian king asked the Eastern Roman emperor for missionaries who knew the Slavic language in 863, and as a result, the missionaries devised a script suitable for writing the Slavic language. This was the first time that the Czechs discovered the possibility of literature, and this script became the starting point of Czech literature. Czech literature began with religious texts such as the Bible and continued with works such as the biography of a prince.
In the 11th century, the invasion of the Hungarians led to the collapse of the Moravian Empire, and the center of politics naturally shifted to the Czech region in the west. Along with this, there was a shift from the influence of Byzantine Eastern Orthodoxy to that of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, literature was mainly written in Latin, and Romanesque culture was introduced around the 11th century.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Czech Gothic literature began. In addition to literature written in Latin, national literature written in Czech appeared, and the level of the literature was very high. From the mid-14th century, with the reign of Charles IV, Prague emerged as a city of the arts and reached the heyday of Czech Gothic art. In particular, works such as the epic Alexander the Great and the Dalimil Chronicle, the first book of chronicles, appeared, and literature in the Czech language began to develop in earnest. In the early 15th century, sermons criticizing the Catholic Church were published due to the influence of the Reformation.

Modern Literature

The Czech national revival movement was actively developed from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. At the end of the 18th century, Joseph II of the Habsburg dynasty, influenced by the Enlightenment, promoted reforms such as the liberation of serfs and the construction of schools, which gave the people a breath of fresh air. These social changes served as an opportunity to revive the Czech language and culture, and in the process, the development of the national language was essential.
The representative philologist Dobrovsky (1753-1829) systematized the Czech language through his research on Czech grammar and language history. He conducted extensive research to find Slavic manuscripts, and in 1792, he traveled to Russia and Sweden to find manuscripts that had disappeared during the Thirty Years’ War. His research became the foundation of Slavic studies and made an important contribution to the development of Czech literature and language. His major works include A History of the Bohemian Language and Literature (1792), A System of Bohemian Learning (1809), and Ancient Church Slavonic Grammar (1822).
A representative figure of modern literature is the poet Svatopluk Čech. He published works that dealt with democracy and national liberation as major themes, and is considered to be the representative figure of Czech national poetry. His major works include Morning Song (1887), New Song (1888), Song of a Slave (1895), and the prose work Mr. Broch’s Journey (1889).
Also, musicians who have had a great influence on modern society’s literature include Smetana and Dvorak. Smetana is famous for his opera The Bartered Bride and his symphonic poem My Homeland, and Dvorak is famous for his New World. These composers, along with Czech literature, are an important part of modern Czech culture.

Contemporary Literature

One of the most famous figures in modern Czech literature is Franz Kafka. He was a Czech Jewish novelist who was born in Prague, the current capital of the Czech Republic, and grew up in a German-speaking Jewish community. After earning a doctorate in law in 1906, he worked for an insurance company, but his only goal in life was to create literature. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1917, retired in 1922, and died in a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1924.
Kafka was not well known during his lifetime, but his friend Max Brodt published his posthumous works, leaving his name in literary history. His works thoroughly expressed the loneliness of the individual, the absurdity of life, and the anxiety of human existence, and he was later regarded as a pioneer of existentialist literature. His major works include Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle, and the Kafka Museum and his house in Prague are now tourist attractions.
Another master of modern literature is Milan Kundera. His representative work The Unbearable Lightness of Being explores the weight and lightness of human existence and life through four male and female protagonists. This novel depicts the inner conflicts and loves of modern people, adding depth to Czech literature.
Franz Kafka had a profound influence on modern literature, and his works in particular established him as a pioneer of surrealism and existentialism. Although he was not widely recognized during his lifetime, his works were published posthumously by Max Brod and caused a sensation in the literary world. The Metamorphosis explores the essential loneliness and alienation of human beings, while The Trial explores the absurdity of society and the powerlessness of human beings. Although his works were not written in the Czech language, they are considered an important part of Czech literature. His works give us a glimpse of Prague and how the city influenced Kafka. Kafka’s house and the Kafka Museum at Prague Castle preserve this literary heritage.
Milan Kundera is also a representative author of modern Czech literature, and the unbearable lightness of being, his work, has gained great popularity worldwide. This work explores the meaning and weight of human existence through four characters, and in particular, it contains deep thoughts on political oppression and individual freedom. Kundera vividly depicts the conflict between the weight and lightness of life and human freedom and oppression in this novel, which has resonated with many people in modern society.
Kundera’s other works are also based on the history, culture, and political situation of the Czech Republic, and his writings are full of philosophical explorations of human nature and identity. For this reason, he has established himself as a global writer, not just a Czech writer.

The fusion of Czech contemporary literature and music

Czech literature is also deeply connected to music. The musicians who influenced the development of modern Czech literature include Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride and the symphonic poem My Homeland contain the Czech people’s national pride, especially My Homeland, which is a musical expression of the Czech landscape, history, and culture. This work was greatly loved by the Czech people, and Smetana’s music was an important inspiration for Czech literature.
Antonín Dvořák’s From the New World is a symphony composed during his stay in the United States and is a work loved around the world. He incorporated Czech folk music and dance into his works, which is closely related to the restoration of the national identity of Czech literature. Dvořák’s music played a major role in shaping the Czech national identity along with Czech literature, and his works are considered an important cultural heritage that expresses Czech historical events and national pride through music.

Czech literary tradition and today

Czech literature has continued its tradition from the Middle Ages to the present day. Modern Czech literature is widely known to readers around the world and is an important pillar of European literature. The Czech literary heritage contains the history of the Czech people’s struggle for independence and the formation of their national identity. From the Middle Ages to the present day, Czech literature has developed alongside the changes of the times, and in the process, the Czech people have maintained their culture and identity.
A characteristic of Czech literature is that it has sought literary freedom even under political oppression. In particular, in the 20th century, despite the fact that many Czech writers were oppressed during the two world wars and under the communist regime, they made constant efforts to express their voices through literature. This literary tradition continues today, and Czech writers are active on the world literary stage.
The future of Czech literature will continue to develop through new literary attempts while inheriting the legacy of the past. Contemporary Czech writers are broadening the scope of Czech literature by dealing with not only traditional themes but also issues of globalized modern society. These literary attempts will play an important role in helping Czech literature move in a new direction rather than simply staying in the past.

Musicians who influenced the literature of modern society

Smetana and Dvořák are the most influential musicians in modern Czech literature. Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride and the symphonic poem My Homeland are masterpieces of Czech music and are closely associated with Czech literature and culture. Dvořák’s New World is a symphony he composed in the United States and is loved all over the world. Smetana and Dvořák completed their works based on Czech folk music, which is also deeply connected to Czech literature.
In the 1840s, a movement arose to elevate the Slovak language to the status of a written language on par with the Czech language. This was made possible thanks to the literary activities of the scholar and poet Štúr (1815-1856). The establishment of the Slovak language as a written language took place in close connection with Czech literature.

The literary impact of the revolution and the transition to realism

The aftermath of the February Revolution in France in 1848 also affected the Czech Republic, and barricade battles were fought in several regions, but the revolution was suppressed by the Habsburgs. This experience made Czech writers begin to face reality and turn to realistic literature. This trend led to the approach to modern literature.
Karel Sabina, who participated in the revolution, is also famous as the librettist of Smetana’s opera, and the poet Preč (1829-1890) continued his literary activities while in prison and wrote Memoirs (1886-1887), a valuable record of his contemporaries. In addition, the female writer Božena Němcová (1820-1882) laid the foundation for Czech prose literature, and her representative work Grandmother (1855) is considered a monumental work of Czech national literature. This work is a masterpiece that depicts the life and characters of Czech rural life in a simple and realistic manner.

Development of Czech Literature in the Late 19th Century

In the late 19th century, many poets and literary figures appeared, enriching Czech literature. A representative figure is Neruda (1834-1891). He is also famous as a poet, and his short story collection Mará Strana Stories (1878), which depicts life on a street in Prague, is still widely read today. In addition, poets such as Havlíček Borovský, Erben, Sladeček, Halec, and Ulrikka were active during this period, adding to the diversity of Czech literature.