Der Tod Karel Čapeks und seine Reflexion im deutschsprachigen kulturellen Bereich

Aleš MISAŘ

Bachelor's thesis

The Death of Karel Čapek And Its Reception in German Newspapers And Magazines

Abstract:

The main aim of this thesis is to survey those reviews of death of Karel Čapek (1890-1938) which came from German cultural region. With this topic I wish to fill, in a certain extent, an unexplored space on the field of intercultural German studies. The major source for this thesis was the contemporary in German written newspapers and magazines released all over the world as well as personal memories of his colleagues and friends. I devote the first part of the thesis to the personality of writer Karel Čapek in order to present him in the context of the era of so called "first" and later, after the Munich Agreement, "second" Czechoslovak Republic and its political situation. I use more quotations from the journalistic works of Karel Čapek to accomplish his portray. I subsequently focus on his relations to Germany and Germans during his life, including the "Sudetenland" crisis. Čapek´s death released various kinds of reactions which also reflected the ideological profile of cultural society. That was the reason to discover these streams as a basis for critical reviews of Karel Čapek. The main part of the thesis is represented by the topic itself. It is focused on obituaries and retrospective articles about Karel Čapek in the press or in the quotations of Čapek´s friends which immediately reacted on his death. In the frame of this I make an occasional comparison with the reactions in the Czech cultural community. Because I consider the thesis to be a certain contribution to the field of Czech-German relationship, I focus on Čapek´s activities during the so called "Sudeten Crisis", including his direct acclamation addressed directly to German citizens in Czechoslowakia. In the resume of the thesis I try to characterize this type of contribution in more details. I evaluate the achievement of the thesis regarding the aim and suggest the possibilities of future extension of the topic.

Abstract:

Tato bakalářská práce se věnuje ohlasům na smrt významného českého spisovatele Karla Čapka (1890-1938) v německojazyčném kulturním prostředí. Práce si bere za cíl zaplnit mezery ve zkoumání vztahů K. Čapek-Němci. Jako hlavní zdroj pramenů posloužila dobová německy psaná periodika. V menší míře pak memoáry a osobní vzpomínky význačných osobností intelektuální sféry. Práce se zprvu zabývá charakteristikou osoby Karla Čapka a jejího ukotvení v hodnotovém systému tzv. První republiky a dále, v nástinu, vývoji jeho vztahů k Němcům, zvláště pak k německé menšině v Československu. Hlavní téma si všímá si naopak i některých aspektů vztahů Němců k Čapkovi již za jeho života. Práce si klade za cíl být jistým přínosem na poli interkulturní germanistiky.

Keywords

Autoritativní režim, "Bílá nemoc", druhá Československá republika, Karel Čapek, Mnichovská dohoda, německá menšina, sudetští Němci, první Československá republika

Language used: German

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 26. 3. 2014

Accessible from:: 31. 12. 2999

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Dr.phil. Miroslav Němec

JAN EVANGELISTA PURKYNĚ UNIVERSITY IN ÚSTÍ NAD LABEM

Faculty od Philosophy

Bachelor programme / field:
Philology / German for school practice