Literature and Tolerance: View from Prague - Softcover

Havel, Vaclav; Skvorecky, Josef; Klima, Ivan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0930523636 ISBN 13: 9780930523633

Publisher: Readers International, 1994

Synopsis

In the face of Europe's rising nationalism and intolerance, this timely anthology by Czech writers addresses a key issue for today. The courage of Czech writers is legendary. During the Cold War they kept their nation's conscience alive by clandestine publishing while imprisoned as "dissidents" or collecting garbage, washing windows or selling fish as "non-persons," and then they took the lead in the Velvet Revolution of 1989 that overthrew communism.

In Europe and the West today -- with its rising nationalism and political extremism -- subtlety, humour and sharp intelligence are needed more than ever, and this volume of stories, poetry, essays and drama showcases some of the best Czech writing on these important topics. The volume also lends insight into the role of Czech writers during two of the darkest periods of Central European history: the struggles against fascism and communism.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In the face of Europe's rising nationalism and intolerance, this timely anthology by Czech writers addresses a key issue for today. The courage of contemporary Czech writers is legendary. They kept their nation's conscience alive by clandestine publishing while imprisoned as "dissidents", or while collecting garbage or selling fish as "non-persons", and then they took the lead in the Velvet Revolution of 1989 that overthrew communism. In Europe today - with its rising nationalism and political extremism - courage and intelligence are needed more than ever, and this volume of Czech stories, poetry, essays and drama tackles essential ideas for our time. The volume also lends insight into the historical role of Czech writers during two of the darkest periods of Central European history: the struggles against fascism and communism. This commemorative volume features writers from the Czech Center of International P.E.N. (Poets, Essayists and Novelists), including: Alexandra Berkova - Karel Capek - Miroslav Cervenka - Lumir Civrny - Daniela Fischerova - Vaclav Havel - Miroslav Holub - Miroslav Huptych - Eva Kanturkova - Ivan Klima - Alexandr Kliment - Rudolf Matys - Zdenek Rotrekl - Jiri Stransky - Karel Siktanc - Josef Skvorecky - Pavel Srut - Jana Stroblova - Jan Trefulka - Milos Vacik - Jaroslav Vejvoda - Milan Uhde.

Reviews

The title held promise: exploring the link between literature and tolerance. But these unevenly translated contributions by past and present members of the Czech Center of International P.E.N. are hit-and-miss. Vaclav Havel's compelling essay on collective hatred amid today's rising European nationalism is well served by its elegant translation. In one of the more successful short stories, Jaroslav Vejvoda's ``Class in Session in B.,'' a teacher brings unruly kids from various national and ethnic backgrounds to a place on a river where the borders of three countries converge. The children clash, and the teacher is pessimistic about what happens when the minority fears the majority, the old fear the young, the little fear the big, and the weak fear the strong. One suspects that most readers would rather see more from past president Karel Capek or a longer excerpt from Josef Skvoreck and somewhat less of Lum r Civrn's turgid history of 70 years of the Czech P.E.N. Club. Clearly the club has survived some tragic circumstances, but only a very few want to read 100 pages on them. Perhaps novelist Ivan Klima links the two concepts best: ``Obviously the limits of tolerance and intolerance in literature cannot be set from the outside; no measures or definitions can be found. Only thoughtfulness and responsibility on the part of those who write can determine the limits.'' Illustrations not seen by PW.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Readers International
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0930523636
• ISBN 13: 9780930523633
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 278