Hašek in the Balkans, the Balkans in Hašek: Jaroslav Hašek’s Balkan wanderings and a contextual reading of Balkan themes in his writings

• Authors: Pavol Száz
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper discusses the emergence of Balkan references in Jaroslav Hašek’s oeuvre, placing them in a historical-political context. It examines the question of whether Hašek visited the Balkans in light of the author’s biography. In terms of fact and biographical mystification, it explores his alleged involvement in the so-called Ilinden Uprising of 1903 against the Turks in present- day northern Macedonia, As well as his travelogue on the Bulgarian section of the Danube, written at this time. The following section focuses on texts in his oeuvre that deal with the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the youngest province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Among these are several humorous texts and short stories based on specific political contexts or events of the time, which, in the author’s characteristically satirical manner, criticise the oppressive and irrational policies of the imperial regime from the perspective of the common man. The paper analyses these writings by interpreting the relevant references.

Keywords

EN

Czech prose; Jaroslav Hašek; political satire; Balkans; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Macedonia

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 111
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 193-212
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Pavol Száz

• Slovanský přehled, redakce, Historický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic