Syllabus
1. Prague as a literary and cultural centre in the beginning of 20th century. 2.
Zofka Kveder, her literary work, her stay in Prague (1900 - 1906) and her place in Czech culture. 3. The anthology of short stories Misterij žene (The Mistery of a women) from 1900. 4.
The influence of Czech women writers on her work. 5. The reception of her literary work in the Czech culture. 6.
Czech motives in her literary work. The novel Hanka. 7.
Julka Chlapec-Djordjevič and her literary and feminist work. Her life in Prague (1922 - 1945). 8.
Her literary work. 9. Her novel Jedno Dopisivanje.
Fragmenti romana (Correspondence. Fragments of the novel) from 1932 and the construction of the main hero. 10.
Comparison of her novel Jedno dopisivanje to the novels by Czech women writers in thirties. 11. Feminist ideas and different national identities in her work. 12.
The reception of her feminist and literary work in the Czech culture in the inter-war period and later. 13. The phenomenon of south Slavic women writers in the Central European area.
Annotation
The lecture provides a history of literary and cultural life in Central Europe with an emphasis on the phenomenon of two women writers with two cultural identities in Prague in the first half of the 20th century. In lectures we will focus on the Slovene-Croat writer and the feminist Zofka Kveder (1878–1926, in Prague from 1900 – 1906)) and on the Serbian writer and the feminist Julka Chlapec-Djordjević (1882–1969, in Prague from 1922 – 1945). Both
South Slavic women writers and feminists were also cultural nomads and mediators with more language identities, connected to Czech feminist movement. They lived in Prague- the place for European modernism and avant-garde in the first half of the 20th Century. In their position and reception they experienced the tradition of
Slavic solidarity and reciprocity still present in the Czech society in the first half of 20 Century. Both of them were active in the Czech culture and society and very much inspired by it also in their literary work. We will analyse the cultural context, their literary work, the reception of it and the images of the Czech culture in their literary work.