Z problematyki modernizmu w literaturze słowackiej

Abstract

The problems of modernism in Slovak literature In the literary output of Slovak Modernist authors the period aesthetic universalities of the artistic Modernism, roughly dated 1890–1914, were connected with peculiarities of regional, national literature, traditionally defined by, as well as perceived through the national concept. As a result of national aspect predominance in the previous perception of literature, the Slovak cultural environment may have experienced restructuring of values of the period topics, it happened however, with a the unmistakable granting autonomy to the aesthetic function of literature and individual creative gesture. Slovak Modernism evinces identifiable thematic resonances and contextual proximities with the contemporary European ideological currents and trends. The follwing authors: Ivan Krasko, Janko Jesenský, Ivan Gall, Frantisek Votruba, Ľudmila Groeblova, Vladimir Roy, Vladimir Hurban-Svetozarov, Vladimir Hurban-Vladimirov, Martin Razus, Samo Cambel-Kosorkin, Juraj Slavik-Neresnický abandoned the social-ideological take on literature and started to emphasize the moment of intimacy and sensitivity of production, which was perceived as an individual self-expression, an escape from solitude, the act of confession, and the outcome of a mood and artistic rendition of a unique moment. The starting point was the feeling of sensual deprivation, failure, disappointment, loss, intellectual distress, and crisis. The perception of crises became manifest in vacillation between activity and inertia, harmony and chaos. Revived Romantic poetics with impressionist overtones began to appear sporadically around 1900 and after 1905 (the year Janko Jesenský’s book of poetry, Verse /Verses/ was published), it became widespread, with the culmination of its popularity between 1908–1912. At that point, the revived Romanticism and Impressionism took a noticeably Symbolistic turn. The motifs of decadent stylization became relatively rare. The inclination of late Symbolism towards the grotesque (grotesque-carnival) in the Slovak context is marked by the repeated ironic twist characterizing literarytexts and by seeing life as a farce, carnival or fancy dress ball.