TIMRAVIN INICIAČNÝ TEXT A NOVÁ CESTA EPIKY

• Authors: Marcela Mikulová

Title variants

EN

Timrava´s initiation text and a new way of Epic

• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

Timrava´s work is the perfect example of the acceleration of thematic and poetic tendencies in Slovak literature of the late 19th century. The writer adopts a polemic-opposing provocative attitude towards the well-established Post-Romantic patterns. The autobiographical novella Skúsenosť (Experience, 1902) represents a modern literary attitude through extending literary possibilities of revealing human psyche in crisis situations. The novella has the basis in the experiences of the main character called Martina, who comes to the town of Vodňany to work as widow Bukovičová´s companion. What the young writer expected from the new environment was a warm welcome, meetings with nationally conscious people, especially poet Javor (P. O. Hviezdoslav), who is the widow´s relative. However, the small town gave her quite a shock confronting her with hypocrisy, malice, superficiality, and its image was totally different from that based on the heroine´s naive expectations. Timrava used the large-scale novella to make Martina go through a great disappointment over Bukovičová as well as her national idols – this ordeal is also a journey of self-discovery, though. What is modern in this novella is not only the negativity of experience and the destruction of the writer´s self-portrait, it is also the positivity of creative self-affirmation, realization of one´s own value and justification of the creative identity after her text was censored in the Slovenské pohľady.

Keywords

EN

TRADITION; MODERN LITERATURE; SELF-DISCOVERY; EXPRESIVITY; TIMRAVA; SLOVAK LITERATURE

• Publisher: Institute of Slovak Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovenská literatúra (Slovak Literature)
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 462 – 490

Contributors

author

Marcela Mikulová

• Ústav slovenskej literatúry SAV, Konventná 13, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic