Czech-Slovak Literary Relations in the 1830s and 1840s: Josef Kajetán Tyl and Czech-Slovak Mutuality

Abstract

The paper explores the growing interest of Czech literary circles in the Slovak cultural scene during the 1830s and 1840s. It was then that this attention was reflected in the increasing quantity of Slovak publications in Czech periodicals (namely, in Josef Kajetán Tyl’s Květy) and in the more frequent occurrence of Slovak themes in the works of Czech authors. Standing for more than an interesting, “exotic” theme, “Slovakness” became part of the Czech concept of literary mutuality and its endeavor to pursue a cultural and language alliance within the tribal unity. Among the Slovak themes introduced to the Czech context, special appeal was held by the character of the tinker, often perceived as a particular type of Slovak patriot with Romantic attributes. As a character in a Czech setting, the tinker first appeared in Josef Krasoslav Chmelenský’s libretto for Dráteník (The Tinker), the first Czech opera by František Škroup. Similarly, in Tyl’s short story “Pomněnky z Roztěže” (“Forget-Me-Nots from Roztěž”), the tinker’s character typifies love for the country and the conflict of “reason” and “heart”. Whereas in Chmelenský the tinker is a potent symbol of mutuality, Tyl’s character, sentimental though he may be, features discontent edness reminiscent of Karel Hynek Mácha, representing a social outside class and a lonely man (in the book form, the tinker speaks Slovak). In the early 1840s, Tyl came to the conclusion that Slovak endeavors to establish a national language did not to hinder the traditional collaboration with Czechs, who could understand Slovak in a work of art.