NĚKTERÉ ASPEKTY STŘETNUTÍ IDEOLOGIE A IMAGINACE V ČESKÉ PRÓZE DVACÁTÉHO STOLETÍ
SOME ASPECTS OF THE CONFLICT OF IDEOLOGY AND IMAGINATION IN THE 20th CENTURY CZECH PROSE

Summary/Abstract: The first part of the paper deals with general aspects of confrontation between ideology and imagination, the second part analyses how this confrontation is reflected in Hasek’s The Good Soldier Svejk and Skvorecky’s The Cowards. In the 20th century ideology became a substitute for religion and in the totalitarian regimes it gradually degraded to the level of a tool of political propaganda and power. The language of ideology was a closed system of simplifications, platitudes and political slogans for collective use. It was in contrast with the openness of the language of imagination with its esthetical values, ambiguity and search for meaning of being in the chaotic contemporary world. Hasek’s and Skvorecky’s humour is based on the striking difference between the alienated language of ideology and the colloquial language of everyday life.

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