Current projects

In the 19th century, literary criticism contributed to the transformation of regional literatures into (seemingly) closed national literatures, in which fiction in vernacular languages took a prestigious place. How did such a canonizing practice,with its elements of exclusivity, Romantic philosophy of history, etc., developed, and how did the autonomy of the work assert itself within its transnational framework?

This project will examine how borders remain an important part of literary discourse in German-language literature after 2000, with an aim to better understand how they are represented, and what concepts they prefigure in the prose and dramatic works that cross them.

The international interdisciplinary project called Art – Gesture – Argument approaches the artistic production during the First Czechoslovak Republic in various disciplines (literature, fine arts, theatre, film, music, etc.) from the perspective that artistic experience and interest are formed collectively. It focuses on the way art shapes public discourse and, conversely, how public debate intervenes in artistic poetics and form.

The project aims to create a synoptic overview of the development of the literatures of the Czech lands in the “long 19th century” in their interaction, conflictual relations and intermingling.

The aim of the project is to create an extensive monograph of Josef Škvorecký, conceived primarily as a biography of the author.