Author: Iva Málková
University of Ostrava
Translation from Czech by Zhorzheta Cholakova
Published in Slavyanski dialozi, XIII, 2016, 17
Abstract: This paper focuses on the Czech poetry of the 1990s and addresses authors, works and tendencies that determined the nature of poetry in this crucial period. It also examines the changes effected by the new political situation after 1989 and the manner in which the return of forgotten poets and their work influenced the interpretation of Czech poetry and the dominant poetological devices of the Czech poetry (Zahradníček, Reynek, Diviš, Kolář, Juliš, Blatný, Šiktanc, Kuběna, etc.). The paper also shows the link between the 1960s and the final years of the 20th century. It features literary historians, critics and editors who influenced the important debates of the 1990s. It concentrates on authors who premiered at the turn of the century and introduced their own poetics (Kolmačka, Stöhr, Valušek, Trojak, Antošová, Fischerová). It also characterizes poetic expressions established in the 1990s which were then further developed. The study also deals with collections of poetry which provoked discussions on the subject of politically engaged poetry (Kasal, Kozelka). The last part of the paper examines the poetry in the northeast of Moravia and in the Ostrava region during the above-mentioned period. It focuses on periodicals, club events and literary activities associated with authors such as Hruška, Motýl, Žila, Vrak, Šťastná, etc.
Key words: literary-historical context of the Czech poetry after 1948, Czech Poetry of the 1990s, Czech Poetry the First Decade of the 21st Century, contemporary Czech poets