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Articles published in Eurozine
The book, a money tree
Speculations about the future of the book that deal only with the switch from analogue to digital fall short of the mark, writes Kathrin Passig. The real issues to discuss are changes in reading habits, reasons for purchasing books and the social meanings of book owning. [Czech version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: Flanders
Reality-check
In the last decade, Flemish fiction has stepped out of the shadow of its Dutch older sister, writes Tom Van Imschoot. One discernable trend is the turn from metafiction towards various forms of realism, be it the regional, the semi-autobiographical or the "virtual". [more]
Letting in the light
The most recent novel of British author Simon Mawer centres around a Czech family and their house, a fictional reworking of Mies van der Rohe's Villa Tugendhat in Brno. A discussion with the writer about real and literary buildings, Brno, and about uncertainty in art. [more]
Literary perspectives: Lithuania
Almost normal
The literary field in Lithuania has established itself since independence, despite vastly smaller print runs. Today, a range of literary approaches can be made out, from the social criticism of the middle generation to the more private narratives of the post-Soviet writers. [Hungarian version added] [more]
Where people walk a mile for a chuckle
Tough materialism and existential frankness, an awareness of one's mortality balanced by the refusal to talk bullshit: George Blecher selects three works of fiction that sum up the New York attitude. [more]
As the fog lifted
Literature in eastern central Europe since 1989
In the twenty years since the fall of communism, literature has been lifting the fog that had settled over the expanses of eastern central Europe. A survey of the post-'89 wave of eastern European literature by Suhrkamp editor Katharina Raabe. [Estonian version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: The Netherlands
"Profound Holland" and the new Dutch
While the work of novelists Jan Siebelink and Arnon Grunberg reflect the new need for security in the Netherlands, a parallel strand of contemporary Dutch literature sidesteps such concerns: writers with migrant backgrounds are introducing new styles into the Dutch literary repertoire. [Hungarian version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: Hungary
Mastering history through narrative?
Reads the newest Hungarian novels, Gábor Csordás that all share a concern with narrative, holding out to the reader the hope of mastering history. [more]
Literary perspectives: Sweden
Beyond crime fiction, handbags and designer suits
Recent literary debates in Sweden have dwelled, among things, on authors' love lives and penchant for designer handbags. Yet there is more out there if one looks: Hans Koppel's satire of suburban manners, for example, or Magnus Hedlund's explorations of human perception. [Estonian version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: Ukraine
Longing for the novel
In Ukraine, the demand for engagement with the recent past has produced a series of novels that are better described as autobiographies. But, asks Timofiy Havryliv, is autobiography equal to the task? [Estonian version added] [more]
A nation like any other
Western Europe holds Israel to impossible standards
Since the conflict with Lebanon, there has been a sense among Western intellectuals that Israel has crossed some moral boundary line. But western European rhetoric holds Israel to impossible standards of perfection. [more]
Back in the ghetto
The Israeli Right nurtures the image of the nation of Israel as a bastion under eternal siege but fails to see that Israel is laying siege to the Palestinians. The window of opportunity opened by the Oslo agreement has been closed for good, fears Göran Rosenberg. [more]
I always try to be an optimist
Interview with A. B. Yehoshua
"Host" talks to Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, a Zionist but also an uncompromising critic of Israeli policy who advocates the return of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians: "History has taught us that everything is possible." [more]
Literary perspectives: Austria
Anything but a "German appendix"
Austrian novelists are still referred to as Germans despite recent critical and commercial success. From the new narrative "miracle" to the darkly humorous "writer's novel", Daniela Strigl finds a contemporary Austrian scene at the top of its game. [Estonian version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: Estonia
Waiting for the Great Estonian Novel
While the Great Estonian Novel has yet to be written, the range of fiction in Estonia is wide enough to serve as an indicator of the post-communist country's hopes and fears, anxieties and obsessions. writes the editor of "Vikerkaar". [Russian version added] [more]
There's always someone who says that poetry is dead
Interview with David Lehman
"Ever since I can remember, people have been announcing the death of poetry," says David Lehman in interview with Milan Dezinsky. "It's the premature-death syndrome. Obituaries are written before deaths occur, but they shouldn't be published until after the fatality." [more]
The re-transnationalization of literary criticism
Critical discussion of foreign literature serves as a source of information not only for readers but also for the "trade". When that discussion disappears or becomes one-sided, this has consequences for the literary institution as a whole. [Estonian version added] [more]
Two stories
Kundera and the conclusion of the Velvet Revolution
The reaction to the Kundera allegations in the Czech Republic has largely been one of doubt rather than blame. Miroslav Balastík wonders whether the incident signifies the end of a phase of post-communism in the Czech Republic. [more]
Don Quixote in the Balkans
Ismail Kadare on why Don Quixote belongs to Balkan folklore, how Cervantes first came to be translated into Albanian, and why today's politicians should be banned from using the knight errant's name as a term of abuse. [more]
"Water is more dangerous than the rise of Islam..."
Interview with Dutch writer Margriet de Moor
Although often using female heroines in her novels, Margriet de Moor finds pigeonholing literature into male and female categories is a pointless exercise. "The social issue of women suffering under a male dominance -- no, I don't find it terribly interesting." [more]
A heavy prelude to chaos
Aspects of literary anti-Americanism in the interwar years
Interwar European literature represented the US as the quintessence of unbridled modernity that prefigured the destruction of Europe. Jesper Gulddal surveys the uncharted territory of literary anti-Americanism. [more]
Generals always prepare for the previous war
On the new paradigm of Czech literary history
The notion of the canon in Czech literary studies is being challenged by a relativist, postmodern approach to history. Its proponents claim this constitutes a revolution, though literary critic Pavel Janousek is sceptical. [more]
Twenty-two years later
A second reading of Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
Twenty-two years after it was first published in Czech, Jiri Travnicek discovers a new appreciation for the narration, characterization, and above all wisdom of Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". [more]
Is March still the Month of Books?
The "Month of Books" was introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1955 and predominantly served as a propaganda tool. Does this leftover from communist cultural policy still have a place in the cultural life of the Czech Republic? [more]
Both believers and liberals can be destructive zealots
An interview with Leo Pavlát (abridged version)
"I have a feeling that any living Jew is a sort of spokesperson for those who died prematurely, that somehow he or she is an expression of their experience and dreams." Leo Pavlát on the "Jewish character", what it means to "be chosen", and the dangers of relativism. [more]
Articles published in the partner section
A sheep detective story
Leonie Swann: "Glennkill. Sheep Investigate aka Three Bags Full". Argo, Prague 2006
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