Nico Carpentier | Uppsala University | Vrije Universiteit Brussel | Charles University in Prague
The article’s objective is to analyse the discursive construction of the Czech nation in three cultural magazines, produced by
Czech exiles in London during WWII. The theoretical backbone for this analysis is provided by Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985) discourse theory, which in turn supports a discourse-theoretical re-reading of the
literature on the nation, first in general and then in relation to the Czech nation. These three theoretical components support an
analysis of 650 selected contributions in 36 issues of the three main cultural journals of the Czech London exile:
Obzor [Horizon], Kulturní zápisník [Cultural Notebook] and Review. This
discourse-theoretical analysis shows the presence, particularity and contingency of a series of internal nodal points (temporal,
spatial, linguistic, cultural and popular), in combination with the external nodal point of diversity in relation to outgroups. In
the conclusion, the political nature of this construction, which we label the politics of poetry, is emphasized.
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Articles cited from the exile magazines
Beer, Bedřich
1941 “Kultura budoucnosti. [Culture of the
future].” Our
translation. Obzor 1 (4): 13.
Berger, Walter, and Pavel Tigrid
1943a “The
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Hope.” Review-43 1 (1): 28–32.
Brunner, Lorenz
1943 “Literature
in the Third
Reich.” Review-43 1 (1): 37–40.
Čapek, Karel
1942 “Řeč a literature. [In praise of the Czech
language].” Translation V. Z. J. Pinkava. Obzor 2 (9–10): 1–2.
Černý, Rudolf
1941 “Věda a národ. [Science and the
nation].” Our translation. Kulturní
zápisník 1 (4): 45–48.
Fischl, Viktor
1941 “Se břehu na břeh. [From shore to
shore].” Our
translation. Obzor 1 (1): 1–2.
F. B.
1941 “Výbušná síla kultury. [Explosive force of
culture].” Our
translation. Obzor 1 (2): 3.
-ir-
1942 “Poslanie slovenskej knihy. [Mission of the Slovak
Book].” Our
translation. Obzor 2 (2): 18–19.
1941 “O
soudobé anglické filosofii. [About contemporary English
philosophy].” Our
translation. Obzor 1 (8): 10.
Tigrid, Pavel
1942a “O knihách a časopisech. [About books and magazines, our
translation].” Our translation. Kulturní
zápisník 2 (4–5): 147–152.
Tigrid, Pavel
1942b “O knihách a časopisech. [About books and
magazines].” Kulturní
zápisník 2 (9–10): 25–28.
Tigrid, Pavel
1943 “Bridge
between East and
West.” Review-43 1 (3): 112–117.
Tschuppik, Walter
1942 “Goethe a Hitler. [Goethe and
Hitler].” Our
translation. Obzor 2 (1): 3–4.
Urzidil, Jan
1942Goethe a Čechové. [Goethe and
Czechs].” Our
translation. Obzor 2 (3): 13.
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