Exil v povídkách Jana Čepa. „Zmocňoval se ho nebezpečný pocit omylu, nesmyslného zabloudění.“
Exile in short stories by Jan Čep

Summary/Abstract: Jan Čep, a Czech writer, has spent more than one third of his life in a French exile. The study aims to point out the reflection of his exile experiences in fi ction, in particular in Před zavřenými dveřmi (In front of closed door) and Ostrov Ré (Isle de Ré), two unique short stories situated in the exile space. Čep’s exile experiences after February 1948 reveal different images in his fiction: exile as ordeal, exile as language ambivalence and incapacity to communicate, exile as loneliness and alienation. Exile space is depicted to be hostile implying the aspect of no recourse (labyrinth, island) with a characteristic feature of errantry. Čep’s leading metaphor of a “double home” narrows in his exile works by substantiating itself into the polarity of a native land lost and a second fatherland of France. The extreme shock of being an expatriate threatens the identity itself of an émigré; an escape into illusions of homecoming and memories of the past results in stagnation and isolation. It is in the interconnection and alliance of his homelands that Čep sees the importance of his exile experience and this common tie between the two countries forms the major point of both short stories.

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