Bodies and subjects in urban public transport. Transport eroticism in the Slovak poetry of the last third of the 20th century Cover Image

Telá a subjekty v mestskej verejnej doprave. Dopravná erotika v slovenskej lyrike tretej tretiny 20. storočia
Bodies and subjects in urban public transport. Transport eroticism in the Slovak poetry of the last third of the 20th century

Author(s): Jaroslav Šrank
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Slovak Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Ústav slovenskej literatúry SAV
Keywords: Slovak poetry of the last third of the 20th century; topos of encounter; urban public transport; erotic theme; sensuality; reflexivity

Summary/Abstract: The article examines Slovak poems by a wide range of authors published in the last third of the 20th century and linked by taking as its theme erotic social interactions in urban public transport. The analysis is conceptually related to Bakhtin’s chronotope of the journey and the topos of the encounter and to existing research on poetry with the motifs of accidental male-female encounters in the urban environment and especially in the context of public transport (Walter Benjamin, Alejandro Hermida de Blas, Josef Hrdlička, Pavol Minár). The essay also makes connections with related topoi and paradigmatic texts. The core of the paper focuses on encounters that are motivated erotically on the part of the subject and notices their various forms and distinctive features. It explores both the sensual side of the erotic theme and its reflexive overlaps that are typical of these poems. The encounter at the place of transit acts in the poetry as an opportunity for the subject to observe and gain knowledge and self-knowledge.

  • Issue Year: 71/2024
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 311-324
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Slovak
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