„Uděláme Prahu hlavním městem střední Evropy“ Časopis Den a jeho role při formování české meziválečné avantgardy
‘We’ll Make Prague the Capital of Central Europe’ The Periodical Den and Its Role in the Formation of the Czech Interwar Avant-garde

Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on Den (Day), a daily, later a weekly, that was published in late 1920 and early 1921. Despite its short life, the periodical played an important role in the forming of the generation of writers who began their careers after the First World War and provided what are probably the most striking examples of socially engagé works by the young authors in the Umělecký klub (Art club), in particular the trio of Zdeněk Kalista (1900–1982), A. M. Píša (1902–1966), and Jiří Wolker (1900–1924). With an analysis of surviving records, the first part of the article discusses the establishment and development of the periodical, from the autumn of 1920 to January 1921, when it folded. The manifestos and the aesthetic profile of the periodical are considered in detail. Attention is also paid to the contemporaneous debates and conflicts amongst the young writers, which became more intense, particularly after the establishment of the Devětsil group, which broke off from the originally united Umělecký klub in October 1920. The second part of the article considers in detail the literary journalism of the individual contributors to Den, particularly Kalista, the editor‑in‑chief of the journal and the author of most of its editorials, and Píša, the author of its conceptually most striking essays on literary criticism. The article also considers the importance of other contributors — Josef Knap (1900–1973) and the literary critic, Jaromír Berák (1902–1964), reporting on Dadaism and cinema, and Jiří Weil (1900–1959), who was one of the first in Den to offer systematic discussion of the literature of Soviet Russia.

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