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[ excerpt ]
Czech writing
read the afterword here
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hidden history
by Otokar Březina
translated from the Czech by Carleton Bulkin
afterword by Petr Holman
The works of the Czech Symbolist Otokar Březina (1868-1929), a writer twice nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature, influenced an entire generation of artists in Bohemia and Moravia.
Hidden History (published posthumously in 1935) is one of the most important works of
20th century Czech prose and represents the apotheosis of Březina's endeavors in the essay form. I
n this finely crafted collection, he discusses the role of art as a vanguard of developments in
science and as a force for social change. These essays also contribute to an understanding of
Březina's poetry, for which he is better known. They comprise the most systematic exposition of his
aesthetic creed, which served to inspire the Czech writers and literary critics who followed in his
footsteps.
This edition is the first complete English translation of any complete volume of Březina's work.
What others say:
Brezina was the greatest of Czech symbolists, indeed, one of the great figures in European symbolism generally ... Bulkin has produced a fine and faithful translation which I can recommend to anyone ... |
— The New Presence
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Hidden History [is] a unique marriage of philosophical investigation and artistic endeavor that produced finely wrought lyrical expositions of Brezina's aesthetic and mystical beliefs. |
— The Prague Post
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Approaching the irrational passions of life with a manic rush, ... Brezina forsakes rational structures of thought, instead creating towers of language that often exhibit powerfully abstract imagery. |
— Rain Taxi
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ISBN 9788090217126
152 pp.
13.5 x 19 cm
1 B/W illustration
hardcover
literature : essays
release date:
December 1997
out of print
new edition forthcoming
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