Slovenska Literatura (Sep 2017)
The Slovak Element versus Internationalism: Rázus´s Reflections on Modern Slovak Literature
Abstract
In the early 1920s literature was still seen as the most prominent manifestation of Slovak life. As such it was also recognized by Martin Rázus (1888 – 1937), who is in terms of literary history a writer with the status of a representative of the so-called transition generation, whose work maintains the continuity between the pre-war and the post-war situations. As of the year 1923 he used to write editorials for the Národnie noviny, in many of which he expressed his opinions on contemporary literature. The recurrent theme of his reflections was the notion of „national character“, which was developed within his own philosophical concept of Slovak nationalism. The notion in question was, however, strongly rejected by the following young generation, who saw it as an anachronism. In the situation of seeking new forms of poetics and movements Rázus revived the earlier concept of national literature defined by S. H. Vajanský (1847 – 1916), within the framework of which a poet or a writer played the role of a national revivalist, and represented the conscience and memory of the nation. Rázus was convinced that a writer had to bear responsibility for a collective, i.e. a nation. In his articles written between 1925 and 1930 he closely interconnected the issue of literature and the contemporary political and economic problems placing emphasis on the tradition, national autonomy and particularity.
