Bohumil Hrabal (1914-97) Papers from a Symposium

2004·9.7 MB·English

by  David Short (ed)

BOHUMIL HRABAL (1914-97)
Papers from a Symposium
Edited by
DAVID SHORT
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
University College London
2004
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)
https://archive.org/details/SSEES0029
BOHUMIL HRABAL (1914-97)
Papers from a Symposium
Edited by
DAVID SHORT
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
University College London

BOHUMIL HRABAL (1914-97)
Papers from a Symposium
Edited by
DAVID SHORT
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
University College London
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
University College London
2004
BOHUMIL HRABAL (1914-97)
Papers from a Symposium
EDITED BY DAVID SHORT
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
University College London
© School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College
London, 2004
SSEES Occasional Papers No. 63
ISBN: 0-903425-74-2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any other form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permision of the School of Slavonic and
East European Studies, UCL.
Copies of this publication and others in the School’s refereed series of Occasional
Papers can be obtained from the Publications Office, SSEES-UCL, Senate House,
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.
Printed by Q3 Print Project Management Ltd,
Loughborough, Leics
Contents
Editor’s note and Acknowledgements vii
Notes on the Contributors ix
Introduction 1
David Short
Towards a Typology of Hrabal’s Intertextuality:
Bohumil Hrabal and Giuseppe Ungaretti 11
David Chirico
Bohumil Hrabal and the Corporeality of the Word 35
Zuzana Stolz-Hladka
Hrabal and Boudnik — a Fateful Friendship 51
Martin Pilar
Fun and Games with Montage: the Individual Case of
Hrabal’s to to mesto je ve spolecne peci obyvatel 59
David Short
The Avant-garde, Experience and Narration in
Bohumil Hrabal’s Obsluhoval jsem anglickeho krale 83
Tim Beasley-Murray
Hrabal’s Autobiographical Trilogy 97
Robert B. Pynsent
Hrabal’s Listopadovy uragan in the Context of the
‘November Revolution’ as a Literary Theme 105
Pavel Janacek
v
VI Contents
Appendix 1 - The untitled ‘introduction’ or ‘foreword’
to toto mesto je ve spolecne peci obyvatel 119
Translated by David Short
Appendix 2 - A Select Bibliography of Works by
Bohumil Hrabal Published in English 123
Index of Names 125
Subject Index 129
Index of Titles of Hrabal’s Works cited 131
Editor’s note
The symposium from which the following papers come was the first event
to be held under the aegis of the Centre for the Study of Central Europe
(22nd May, 1997) of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
University of London (now a constituent of University College London).
It was felt at the time that Hrabal’s death should not go unmarked and the
symposium was organised as expeditiously as possible. It was gratifying
that, despite the relatively short notice, it attracted speakers from beyond
the walls of the host body.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank all the contributors for their comprehensive responses to
my promptings during the editing process, and above all to my colleague,
Professor Robert B. Pynsent, for his constant advice and encouragement.
Since it would otherwise go unrecorded, I wish also to thank the Czech
Centre, London, for hosting the successful Hrabal evening of talks and
readings (and suitable refreshments) which followed on from, and was
more social in nature than, the symposium which led — after some unfor¬
tunate delays — to the publication of the present volume. The positive side
to that delay is that the volume’s appearance now happily coincides with
the ninetieth anniversary of Bohumil HrabaTs birth in 1914. The School is
pleased to acknowledge its gratitude for the grant from the Czech govern¬
ment which has made publication possible.
Windor David Short
August 2001, September 2003
vii