The Origins of the Czech Literature
The Czech Republic can trace its poetry and literary origins to the 9th century when its texts were written in the Old Chruch Slavic language. The Old Church Slavic language is the oldest document language and was created by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Cyril and Methodius were brothers born in the early 9th century and were recognized as saints for influencing Slavic people's religious and cultural development. Both brothers worked as missionaries to educate the Slavic people, teaching them Old Church Slavic by translating the texts from the Bible. The creation of the language was also used to fight against Frankish (German) influence.
A book containing written text in Old Chruch Slavic.
The earliest Czech poems were composed of songs; “Legends of King Wenceslas” and “Hospodine, pomiluj ny” (Lord Have Mercy on Us) date back to the 10th century and were written in Old Church Slavic. It would not be until the 13th century that Czech hymns, religious songs, or poems began to appear. Czech hymns were written later in this period, including the courts of the Přemyslid Kings of Bohemia.
“Hospodine, pomiluj ny” is one of the oldest known Czech poems composed of 8 verses.
At the start of the 14th century, verses in Czech were more prominent in literary works consisting of chivalrous romances, epics, legends, and biographies of saints. In regards to the genres of poetry, epic poems were more widespread during this time. There were two types of epic poetry: poems of mythical legends and tales of knights' battles. Both of these epics contained traces of religious elements throughout the poems.
The Great Divide on Religion
As literary works in Czech began to appear more, Jan Hus —a Czech theologian and philosopher— set in motion in the early 15th century the Hussites movement. This movement challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and addressed the grievances of the Czech people. The Hussite movement went on to create a definite break in the Czech literary works and finally allowed the Czech to form a new beginning within literature. The divide between Latin and Czech writing remained rampant throughout the later ends of the 15th century with poetry and intellectual prose being written in Latin whereas popular prose was written in Czech or German. The Hussite period developed the genre of Czech religious songs as a replacement for Latin hymns and liturgy.
Hus is not only credited with inspiring the Hussite movement but also creating rules of grammar and spelling that would be implemented in Czech literature in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The middle of the 15th century was when the Hussite movement came to a halt with the election of the sixteenth King of Bohemia, George of Poděbrady, who ruled from 1458 to 1471. George was born out of wedlock to a Bohemian nobleman, at the height of the Hussites movement he served as a leader, but he was more tolerant of the Catholic faith. Due to his toleration of the Catholic faith he was chosen unanimously by the estates of Bohemia in 1458 to be king. His ruling was marked by his attempts at peace between the Hussites and Catholics in the religiously divided land of Bohemia. This earned him the nicknames of “King of Two Peoples” and “Friend of Peace.”
The people's religious dived remained evident in the literary works after the crowing of King George, competition amongst Catholics writing in Latin and Protestants writing in Czech.
The Austrian-Habsburg Takeover
Czech literary works faced a further change in 1620 after the Battle of White Mountain which was due in part to the religious divide that the Czech lands were still faced with that resulted in the Austrian Habsburg control for the next 300 years. Under the Austrian Habsburg crown, the literary traditions of the past two centuries were banned. This led to the re-Catholization and Germanization of Bohemia, in turn splitting the literature into two groups: Catholic and Protestant.
It was through Czech exiles that the literary works were able to survive. One among them was Jan Amos Comenius, whose written works in Czech divulged him as a prominent writer throughout Europe. His Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart stands as one of Czech’s greatest prose literary works.
Jan Amos was a non-Catholic and was forced to write in exile from 1628. He has received acclaim for his writing and philosophical works since his death.
The Arrival of the Romanticism Movement
The end of the 18th century brought the wave of the Romanticism movement in literary works, arts, music, and architecture. The Romanticism movement sought to express people’s emotions, visions, and imaginations. Offering the creativity to explore and indulge in fantasies and romance. This wave of excitement and feeling of limitless opportunity catalyzed the Czech people to begin reviving their literary works. This working effort to inaugurate Czech literature was in tandem with both scholars and literary artists.
The Greatest Czech Poem Ever Written
Of the Czech poets who came about during the Romantic period, the most celebrated and recognized of them was Karel Hynek Mácha. His poems were known for their lyrical intensity and usage of flawless language. Of them, the most famous poem that Mácha wrote was Máj (May). Upon publication in 1836, the poem was met with unfavorable views with people finding Mácha’s poem confusing and not following the national views of the time.
Karel Hynek Mácha was a Czech Romantic Poem, upon the publishing of Máj, the poem was met with poor reviews. It was after Mácha’s death that Máj was met with critical acclaim.
It would not be until later in the 1850s after Mácha’s death that the poem was reintroduced to the younger generation of poets and novelists it was met with critical acclaim for its existentialism, alienation, isolation, and surrealism.
The Máj Poem and its Poetic Impact
Máj pays homage to the beauty of spring and was heavily inspired by the nature and architecture of the Czech Republic. The poem is set on an open land landscape and features a lake called Big Pond which is now renamed Lake Mácha after the poet. Castles such as Bezděz, Karlštejn, and Křivoklát also influenced the poem’s setting as well.
The poem tells the tragic love story of Vilém, a bandit who is in love with Jarmila, a kind and pure girl, but has committed a murderous crime and is to be killed for his horrible acts. The crime he committed was murdering his father who attempted to seduce Jarmila while Vilém was away. Upon awaiting his execution, Vilém reflects on his life and ponders the beauty of nature.
Since the rediscovery of the poem, Máj (May), poets who followed in the footsteps of Mácha published their writing in an almanac titled Máj after Mácha’s poem. These writers were known as the Máj Circle or the May Generation and sought to incorporate Czech literature into European culture. Their literary works focused on the simplicity of the 19th century and commented on the invasion of the Industrial Revolution.
The Poetic Waves That Swiftly Followed
The later part of the 19th century saw new waves of poets arriving after the conclusion of the May Generation. The first wave was the Neo-Romantics who furthered the efforts of the romantic works through their literary writing. Their poems not only focused on the romantic traditions of the Romantic movement but incorporated contemporary styles of realism, decadence, and symbolism.
The next wave was Naturalism, and poets of this period sought to explore the Czech lands through their writing by emphasizing the morals of the people, especially those of the lower classes.
The final wave came near the end of the 19th century with the introduction of Modernism. The characteristics of the Modernists were known for their particular style of writing and having critical views on the work of past generations. These characteristics of the Modernists lead to the birth of the literary critic as not only a working profession but also helping new up-and-coming writers. This was seen as a helpful tactic in garnering feedback on a writer’s literary works before publishing the final piece for the public to read.
20th Century and Beyond
The establishment of Czechoslovakia as an independent nation is when Czech literature began to thrive. Czech artists revolutionized written areas such as plays, novels, and poems. Between 1918 and 1945 poets like František Halas, Vítězslav Nezval, and Jaroslav Seifert were writing in a wide range of poetic genres.
After World War II, Czechoslovakia was overtaken by communism which impacted the literary freedom of writers and led Czech literature to decline amongst the public. During the communist regime, the standard style of poetry was drab social realism. The 1960s saw the communist reigns loosen, leading poetry to undergo yet another renaissance. Among the new generation of poets were Jiří Šotola, Miroslav Florian, Miroslav Holub, and Karel Šiktanc who sought to write poetry on ‘everyday life.’
After the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, conditions again became harsh for writers. Many left the Czech Republic, while others stayed and wrote for the underground samizdat press or had their manuscripts smuggled to the West.
The end of the communist era allowed Czech poetry to finally thrive and reach audiences throughout the world, allowing Czech writers and poets to write freely in any style of writing and connect with others through their literary works.
Written by Elizabeth Arebalo
Sources:
“Czech Literature.” Britannica, Czech literature | History, Authors & Works | Britannica. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
“Saints Cyril and Methodius.” Britannica, Saints Cyril and Methodius | Description, Legacy, & Facts | Britannica. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
“Czech literature.” Wikipedia. Czech literature - Wikipedia. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
“Old Church Slavic Online.” The University of Texas at Austin - Linguistics Research Center, Introduction to Old Church Slavonic. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
O’Hara, Natalie. “Czech Poetry.” expats-cz, 30 April 2007, Czech Poetry - Prague, Czech Republic
Stehlíková, Olga. Zedník Ladislav. “Contemporary Czech Poetry.” Czech Lit, 13 Feb. 2017, Contemporary Czech Poetry | CzechLit.
