The socio-psychological novel on the modern Czech book market (based on Alena Mornštajnová's works)

Abstract

The modern Czech literary market (after 1989) has undergone significant changes. Its development was influenced, in particular, by the commercialization of the cultural sphere. The article describes the current (since 1989) literary process in the Czech Republic, presents the most successful — primarily from a commercial point of view — works in order to trace the most striking trends in modern Czech literature. The article provides an overview of contemporary Czech literary awards, nominations, as well as participating works. Particularly emphasized is the phenomenon of the growing popularity of works reflecting the events of recent history (the second half of the 20th century). An example of these trends are Alena Mornštajnová’s works — The Blind Map (2013), The Little Hotel (2015), Hana (2017) and Years of Silence (2019). When characterizing the novels, special attention is paid to the role of historical plots and motives, as well as their influence on the modification of the genre of the socio-psychological novel in modern Czech literature. Moreover, the article dwells upon on Mornštajnová’s artistic processing of historical material. She uses it as a method to depict psychological transformations of the characters, thus creating an effect of reader’s involvement (through “recognizing” oneself and one’s life story in the life story of the character).