Vision des bêtes dans le Serpent sur la neige (1924) de Bohuslav Reynek : texte et image dans le « livre expressionniste » tchèque

Abstract

Vision of Animals in The Snake on the Snow [Had na Sněhu] by Bohuslav Reynek Both a poet and an engraver, Bohuslav Reynek (1892-1971) was one the of Czech creators who moved from a pictorial medium to poetry. His first period is characterized by a vitality which is close to Expressionism, and is associated with the short history of the 'Czech Expressionist book'. The similarities between literature and visual arts are indeed obvious in the series of the Sešity poesie [Books of Poetry], illustrated with linocuts — in particular those by Josef Čapek — and edited by Reynek in the early twenties. An analysis of one of his collections of poems, Had na sněhu [The Snake on the Snow], makes it possible to discern thematic convergences and stylistic connections between visual and literary expressions, based on a certain difficulty in identifying the pictures, which are quite abstract in style. Reynek' s interest in animals — which represent both pure contingency and pure transcendence — , an interest he shared with many representatives of the expressionist movement, can probably be explained by the particular place animals hold in this ambiguous status of representation. It is emblematic of what one of the texts from Had na sněhu calls 'the existence hidden in the folds and gathers of a secret being'.