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Czech BooksLooking at Czech society with both eyes open
Czech history features many brave, pioneering women, such as the author
Božena Němcová (1820-1862) or the politician Milada Horáková
(1901-1950). But Czech society today is still very far from offering
equality of opportunity. I met with Eva Kalivodová to discuss the work she
does in the field of gender and culture. Eva teaches literature at Charles
University, is a scholar of Gender Issues and edits a bi-lingual literary
and cultural journal focusing on gender in the Czech context, One Eye
Open/Jedním Okem. I first asked Eva if she thought the situation had
improved for women twenty years after the end of Communism.
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Czechs in HistoryČeský Dub in the Middle Ages
For this week’s Czechs in History I’ve brought you somewhere rather
special – one of my favourite places in the Czech Republic – Český
Dub. And I’m sitting here at about 10 at night, exhausted after a hard
week’s work, just about to go to sleep in the local museum, which is all
rather scary and exciting because there are things like suits of armour
downstairs, which I am hoping won’t come to life when I switch the lights
out. And I owe this visit here to the fact that, tomorrow morning, I have a
meeting with museum’s curator, Tomáš Edel, who is going to tell me
about the very important medieval significance of this otherwise not very
remarkable town of around 3,000 inhabitants. So, I look forward to that
after a night of ghosts and creaking floorboards in the museum.
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Current AffairsBozena Nemcova’s Babicka at National Theatre for the first time
Babicka or The Grandmother by Bozena Nemcova is unquestionably one of the
icons of Czech literature and, as a regular item on school reading lists,
it is known to literally every Czech child. Published in 1855, the book saw
more than 350 editions, dozens of theatre productions and several film
adaptations. Now, for the first time ever, an adaptation of Babicka has
reached the stage of the Czech National Theatre.
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MailboxMailbox
Topics discussed in this week's Mailbox: The legendary Czech animator Jiri
Trnka, writer Karolina Svetla, Czech records in the javelin throw.
Listeners quoted: Jean-Claude Bonnard, Colin Law, Aloisie Krasny, and
Mogire Omachuki.
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Current AffairsWomen writers take centre stage at Prague Congress of Czech Literary Studies
Bozena Nemcova's 19th century novel Babicka, or the Grandmother is one of
the most important, and popular, texts in Czech literature. The 150th
anniversary of its publication is being celebrated in Prague this week at
the third World Congress of Czech Literary Studies. The congress is held
every five years and is organised by the Czech Academy of Sciences,
Charles University and the National Literary Archives. This year's theme:
"The World in Czech Literature and Czech Literature in the
World".
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Czech BooksBozena Nemcova - the mother of Czech prose
Hello and welcome to Czech Books, which this week will be looking at the
Czech icon and -in the words of Milan Kundera - the mother of Czech prose,
Bozena Nemcova. We'd like today to dig a bit deeper into the reality of
the woman behind the image, which is embedded in Czech culture. Nemcova
lived from 1820 to 1862 and was a major figure in the Czech national
revival. She's most famous for her book about an idealized rural community
in the early 19th century, "Babicka" - The Grandmother. This
book has been translated into many languages and is known by all Czechs as
part of their school reading. Nemcova's image is also very much a part of
Czech culture. Here are a few lines from Babicka in a 19th century
translation by Frances Gregor. More
Czechs in HistoryA look at the life and work of Jan Neruda
Poet, writer, and journalist, Jan Neruda has long been recognised as one of
the outstanding figures of 19th century Czech literature, an author who
mastered the art of the feuilleton, whose column was published regularly
in the politically-liberal Narodni listy, and read widely by the masses.
An ironical but also often melancholic poet who strived for modernity and
the defeat of provincialism; a writer whose works were carefully dissected
in his day who was endlessly expected to write his 'great' novel, but
whose ultimate masterpiece remains his cycle of short stories titled
'Tales of the Little Quarter'. Stories that offered a satirical but also
gentle depiction of the loves, lives, and small failures of petty
bourgeois inhabitants of Mala Strana. An area which to this day remains
the most picturesque area of the capital beneath Prague Castle and Petrin
Hill.
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Czech BooksBozena Nemcova - the mother of Czech prose
Hello and welcome to Czech Books, which this week will be looking at the
Czech icon and -in the words of Milan Kundera - the mother of Czech prose,
Bozena Nemcova. We'd like today to dig a bit deeper into the reality of
the woman behind the image, which is embedded in Czech culture. Nemcova
lived from 1820 to 1862 and was a major figure in the Czech national
revival. She's most famous for her book about an idealized rural community
in the early 19th century, "Babicka" - The Grandmother. This
book has been translated into many languages and is known by all Czechs as
part of their school reading. Nemcova's image is also very much a part of
Czech culture. Here are a few lines from Babicka in a 19th century
translation by Frances Gregor.
More
