Conference

Invitation to International Academic Conference
Czech Literature and Literary Culture in Foreign Fictional and Documentary Film

Date of event:	24–25 March 2025
Venue:	Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc (ul. Křížkovského 10)
Conference languages:	Czech/Slovak and English
Length of presentation:	15–20 minutes
Fee:	50€
Applications:	by 31 January 2025 (jiri.hrabal@upol.cz)

In the first year of our conference events we focused on how the process of self-constitution of the Czech nation was reflected overseas during the course of the 19th century, and the role played in this by literary culture. In the following year we then turned our attention to “blind spots” or untranslatable passages in translations from and into Czech.

At the third conference the subject of our interest shall be the representation of works of Czech literature in foreign fictional and documentary film narration and referencing, spanning a period throughout the twentieth century and the first quarter of the twenty-first.

We shall investigate which works of Czech literature were adapted for the medium of film, the international context in question (historical, ideological aesthetic…), the reasons behind it and the manner in which it took place. However, we shall not limit ourselves only to film adaptations of literary works, but will also examine the relationships of foreign films towards Czech literature: the linkage to the specific poetics of particular works of Czech literature, the way in which foreign film production drew inspiration from Czech literary figures or fictional spaces, the presentation of selected events, stories or “images” that had been narrated in Czech works of fiction etc.

We shall devote equal attention also to foreign documentary film representation on Czech literary culture (again over the course of time): documentaries on Czech literary figures, works of Czech literature, literary life, political-ideological influences on Czech literary culture, censorship, samizdat and exile literature, the current situation in which Czech literature finds itself etc. Under what circumstances and when were such documentaries produced, why were they created, and what image of Czech literature did they present? It may also be valuable to include within our focus foreign television reportage – during which periods and in which countries did references to Czech literary culture and its figures appear (and in which periods and countries was this entirely absent), how and for what reasons?

We are convinced that an external view of Czech literature and its multi-perspectival reflection can bring us a series of impulses, both for contemplating the (transforming) situation of Czech literary culture within the international context and for the self-reflection of Czech literary culture itself.

Organising partner universities:

• Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Arts, Department of Czech Studies (Jiří Hrabal)
• Charles University Prague, Faculty of Arts, Department of Czech and Comparative Literature (Petr A. Bílek)
• Sveučiliště u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za zapadnoslavenske jezike i književnosti (Matija Ivačić)
• Universita degli studi di Udine, Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Department (Anna Maria Perissutti)
• Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Instytut Filologii Słowiańskiej (Natalia Palich)
• Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, Wydział Humanistyczny, Filologia słowiańska (Joanna Derdowska)

Send the completed application forms for the conference by e-mail to the address: jiri.hrabal@upol.cz by 31 January 2025