Český realismus v exilu: O časopise Skutečnost (1948–1953)
Czech Realism in Exile: The Periodical Skutečnost, 1948–53

Summary/Abstract: In this article the author discusses Skutečnost (Reality), a remarkable Czechoslovak émigré periodical published after the Communist takeover. The author was one of its founders and editors. Skutečnost was started up in Geneva in late 1948 essentially as a students’ monthly. The fi rst number was published in March 1949. Owing to its high quality, openness, non-partisanship, forthrightness, critical approach, and non-conformism, however, Skutečnost soon gained an extraordinary standing amongst émigré periodicals. Its programme and name refl ect its affiliation with the realism of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), in the sense of its perspicacity and critical assessment of reality, advocated an active, uncompromising defence of democracy against totalitarianism, supported the integration of European values, castigated émigré politicking, boldly held up an unfl attering mirror to its countrymen, and detested platitudes. Its critical jibes were a thorn in the side of many an émigré; the special issue criticizing the post-war expulsion of the Czechoslovak Germans, for example, caused an uproar. Its editor-in-chief was the Slovak journalist Karol Belák, and its regular contributors included a number of distinctive émigré fi gures from around the world, for example the literary historians Peter Demetz (b. 1922) and Jiří Pistorius (b. 1922), the journalists Ferdinand Peroutka (1895–1978) and Pavel Tigrid (1917–2003), the writers Jan M. Kolár (1923–1978) and Jiří Kárnet (b. 1920), the historians Jiří Kovtun (b. 1927) and Zdeněk Dittrich (b. 1923), and the politician Jaroslav Stránský (1884–1973). It increasingly published translations of articles by non-Czechoslovak authors, including émigrés from other central and east European countries. Its range of action expanded considerably, when the selection of articles from Skutečnost began to be published in Czech, English, and German versions in Democratia militans. In his discussion the author mentions the conflict that arose after Meda Mládková (b. 1919), an art historian and collaborator of Skutečnost, took over its administrative work and moved the editorial offi ce to London in 1951. He concludes by stating that this initiative of the young generation of émigrés contributed to overcoming the sense of disappointment, apparent deadlock, and genuine lack of programme amongst the Czechoslovak émigrés.

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