THE EXPERIENCE OF EXILE THROUGH THE EYES OF CZECH WRITERS by Adela Muchova B. A., Charles University, Prague, 2003 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Under Special Arrangements of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences O Adela Muchova 2006 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Adela Muchova Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: The Experience of Exile Through the Eyes of Czech Writers Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Trude Heift Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. Samir Gandesha Senior Supervisor Assistant Professor of Humanities Dr. Jerry Zaslove Supervisor Professor Emeriti of Humanities Dr. Andre Gerolymatos Supervisor Professor of History Dr. Peyman Vahabzadeh External Examiner Assistant Professor of Sociology University of Victoria Date Defended: '"+SIMON FRASER @L&uNrvmsml ibra ry DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: ~http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/l892/112~)and, without changing the content, to translate the thesidproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2006 ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to demonstrate how the experience of exile was reflected in the work of 2othcentury Czech writers. It does so by way of an examination of the respective responses of Jan Drabek and Jaroslav Vejvoda to two historical traumas: the 1948 Communist Coup and the failure of the "Prague Spring" in 1968. It argues that while both Drabek and Vejvoda employ typical aspects of exilic literature in their work, each of them provides a different reflection on exile according to the distinct social and political condition of his time. By analyses of these responses to historical trauma, this thesis emphasizes the transition from the external, social, and political approach of Drabek to the internal, private, and strictly non political position of Vejvoda. Keywords: exile literature; political emigration; Jan Drabek; Jaroslav Vejvoda; 1948 Communist Coup; 1968 Prague Spring Subject headings: Czech fiction --2othcentury - History and Criticism; Exiles' Writings; Exiles in Literature; Czech Republic - Communism; Emigration and Immigration in Literature DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all Czechoslovak exiles who were forced out of their homeland during the Communist Era. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to all who have contributed to the writing and successful completion of this thesis. First of all, I am indebted to Samir Gandesha, my senior supervisor, under whose guidance many of the central ideas of thesis began to come together and take shape. I am grateful to Jerry Zaslove and Andre Gerolyrnatos, members of my supervisory committee, for providing unwavering support throughout my graduate studies. I would like also to acknowledge the help of Donald Grayston for his constant encouragement. I would also like to thank to Douglas Williams for often talking me through my ideas and tirelessly reading through drafts of the thesis. I am grateful to Trish Graham for her help with grammar and formatting. I am grateful to Christine Prisland, Wendy Sjolin and Vivian Blaker, whose administrative assistance enabled me to finish the thesis. I also acknowledge the financial assistance of the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Department of the Humanities for making available generous financial support. Finally, I owe the deepest gratitude to my husband, Petr, for constantly pushing me and for always providing me with inspiration. Without his constant support, this thesis would not have been possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. Approval ............................................................................................................................11 ... Abstract .............................................................................................................................111 Dedication .........................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................v Table of Contents .............................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1 .EXILE AND LITERATURE .................................................................1 The Ambivalent Relation between Exile and Literature ..............................................5 Writing Exile: The Question of the Political? .............................................................. 8 The Historical Position of the Czech Writer .............................................................1 1 Exile in Twentieth-Century Czech Writing ................................................................16 CHAPTER 2 .JAN DRABEK AND THE 1948 COMMUNIST COUP ....................21 The Communist Takeover of 1948 ...............................................................................21 Writers between 1945-1948 .......................................................................................23 Jan Drabek (b . 1935) ......................................................................................................25 Exile as Enlightenment ...............................................................................................28 Unending Journey .......................................................................................................31 The Call for Ethics ......................................................................................................40 The Character of Drabek's Work ...............................................................................45 CHAPTER 3 .JAROSLAV VEJVODA AND PRAGUE SPRING OF 1968 ............48 Prague Spring of 1968 ....................................................................................................48 Writers of the Prague Spring ......................................................................................50 Jaroslav Vejvoda (b . 1940)............................................................................................. 57 Disturbing to Awake ...................................................................................................58 On Uprootedness and Homelessness ..........................................................................67 Eroticism: a Sign of Enclosure? .................................................................................80 The Character of Vejvoda's Work .............................................................................84 CHAPTER 4 .EXILE: POLITICS AND ANTI-POLITICS ......................................87 On Exilic Relations ....................................................................................................-92 On Ethics ....................................................................................................... ....103 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 107 Appendix .........................................................................................................................10 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................112 Electronic Sources ........................................................................................................ 120 CHAPTER 1 - EXILE AND LITERATURE Since antiquity, exile has been a recurrent human experience and a part of literature. We may trace the experiences of several significant exiles such as Homer, Oedipus, and Ovid, for example, and see how separation from their homelands influenced their sagas. The Bible itself contains many accounts of exile.' While exilic literature is most commonly understood to be an expression of the painful aspects of exile,