Views from the Inside

Czech Underground Literature and Culture (1948–1989)

Martin Machovec

• Publisher: Karolinum Press, Charles University
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9788024640051
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

From political novels to surrealist poetry and censored rock and roll, Czech underground culture of the later twentieth century displayed an astonishing, and unheralded, variety. This fascinating exploration of that underground movement—the historical, sociological, and psychological background that gave rise to it; the literature, music, and arts that comprised it; and its more recent incorporation into the mainstream—draws on the voices of scholars and critics who themselves played an integral role in generating it. Featuring the writings of Czech poet Ivan Martin Jirous, philosopher-poet Egon Bondy, and writer Jáchym Topol, as well as Canadian expat and translator Paul Wilson—many of which have never before been available in English—in addition to an expanded bibliography reflecting advances in scholarship, this second edition of Views from the Inside is both a work of literature and an eye-opening volume of criticism.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Report on the Third Czech Musical Revival
• What’s it Like Making Rock’n’Roll in a Police State?
• The Roots of the Czech Literary Underground in 1949–1953
• On Czech Underground Literature of the 70s and 80s
• The Story of Revolver Revue
• Editor’s Epilogue
• Bibliography (English titles only)
• Discography
• Documentary films
• About the Authors