Foreign and Ours: Czech Literature After the Split of Czechoslovakia using the Example of the RAK Literary Journal
Abstract
Jana Pátková in her study looks into the reception of Czech literature in RAK (RAK - Revue aktuálnej kultúry) a journal that was published in Slovakia between 1996 - 2014. The journal adopted a new approach to contemporary literature based on intellectual views and sharpness of the founding editors (P.
Darovec and V. Barborík) and presented a series of original columns and sections to reflect on books and the literary context.
Pátková observes that Czech literature and its image after the Velvet Revolution in Slovak culture has been reflected minimally despite the closeness of Slovak and Czech cultures before 1989. RAK was one of the exceptions and occasionally (rather than systematically) offered insight into contemporary literary production in Czechia.
The journal did not attempt to cover the whole of Czech literature but rather a personal selection that either picked world-famous Czech authors (K. Čapek, J. Hašek or M.
Kundera) or writers with whom they shared artistic values. Pátková traces the key articles, in which there were analyses of Czech literature (including one "Czech issue" focused solely on Czech literature) conducted by both Czech and Slovak literary critics and historians.
In her concluding ideas, she states that despite obvious insufficiency in what was once rich cultural exchange, there remain, in terms of mutual cultural interest, much better results on the Slovak side.