Martin Hrdina
“To Miss Out on the Region, the People and Life Because of Castles and Ruins”: Tensions between Historicism and Regionalism Using Zbudovská Blata as an Example
The region of Zbudovská Blata including its residents became known throughout Czech society at the beginning of the 20th century mainly thanks to the efforts of writers Karel Klostermann and Josef Holeček. The purpose of this essay is to recall the key circumstance of the literal presentation of the rural environment, which was a departure from romantic historicism of the 19th century and to describe the role, which the writers above bestowed upon the Blata residents within Czech society. The essay also points to the differences between them. While Holeček used the Blata surroundings for purposes of a multifaceted polemic with the aristocracy, the conciliatory Klostermann created a timeless symbol from that same environment, thanks to which he secured a permanent place in Czech culture thanks to his novel Mlhy na Blatech (The Fog Over the Marshland).
design by Bedřich Vémola
