Showing papers on "Czech published in 1984"

Ethics at the Crossroads: The Czech "Dissident Writer" as Dramatic Character

Abstract: In a survey of contemporary national literatures it seems only sensible to speak of a "Czech literature," as well as of "Czech drama." After all, Czech writers have lately been making their marks with increasing clarity on the international literary scene. Milan Kundera's novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting has reached the best-seller list in the United States; Vaclav Havel's and Pavel Kohout's plays are performed in many countries and languages; Josef Skvorecky has received the prestigious Neustadt Prize; Ludvik Vaculik publishes essays in the New York Review; Ivan Klima's plays are performed in Canada; Jiti Grusa's prose attracts international praise. If we consider the biographies of the writers, however, we find that speaking of a "Czech literature," though true in one way, misleads in another.