Licentiousness in Works of the Czech Literary Underground of the 1940s and the 1950s

Joanna Królak

Wydział Polonistyki, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Slawistyki Zachodniej i Południowej
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8879-9579

Abstract

The article deals with images of promiscuity found in works of the Czech literary underground created in the 1940s and the 1950s. Accordingly, works by Egon Bondy, Jana Krejcarova and Karel Hynek are discussed in this respect. As part of the polemics concerning the era presented in the works of the underground pole representatives, there appears a vulgar dictionary and the subject of tabooized erotic practices like scatology, polygamy, sodomy or incest. The description of these practices in the works of representatives of the Czech literary underground of the 1950s was a form of protest, violating the then rigid moral norms and, at the same time, an expression of artistic provocation in relation to the official literature.

Keywords:

licentiousness, Czech literary underground