Literárně inscenované svědectví: K emancipačním strategiím v Hrabalově novele Jarmilka
The literary construction of testimony: On emancipatory strategies in Hrabal’s novella <i>Jarmilka</i>

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with literary testimony as an author’s response to previous objectivation. We can observe objectivation in its delimited form through the act of arrest, as there is a sudden transformation of the subject into the object during this act. Inverse movement occurs in narrative where, through literary means, the narrator is staged as the center of meaning proliferation. Each of the two directions (objectivation and subjectivation) reveals a narrative position (the subject’s deprivation or, conversely, his emancipation), and in these, an inherent asymmetry between the subject and object of the narrative is present. That is, the other side of the emancipating gesture is objectivation. The narrator makes the characters into peripheral beings. This asymmetric situation is analogous to the relationship between the author and the reader. We specify this thesis in the interpretation of Hrabal’s early autobiographical novella <i>Jarmilka</i>. In this prose, Hrabal incorporates seemingly realistic elements, which are persuasive in spite of the fact that reality was the exact opposite of Hrabal’s description of it. Authenticity in literary testimony is thus aroused not by the depiction of reality, but rather, by specific literary devices.

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