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THE ANALYSIS OF THE PROSE BY JOSEF SKVORECKY PICTURES OF THE CZECH SOCIETY

K. Slamova

Abstract

Josef Skvorecky is one of the most significant representatives of the Czech writers who published their works in the exile. Josef SkvoreckyВ’s constant interest in the development of Czech society in recent decades is, among other things, the source of his work The Life of Czech Society, which is the subject of interest in this article. The book is a living testimony to a relatively recent period that was very difficult for the Czech nation. The analysis of the work makes it possible to follow SkvoreckyВ’s mastery of writing. A particularly interesting aspect of the literature analysis is the sources of the humorous effect of the observed text. A strong feature of SkvoreckyВ’s work is connecting the textual and thematic levels. The use of specific language resources for this interconnection leads to the high efficiency of the text. The analysis from the point of view of the literary communication progressing from the author to the textual and topical aspect of the book and finally the recipient tries to find out which language features are used by Skvorecky to reach the comic effect and, at the same time, to penetrate deep into relevant subjects. The analysis also reflects how the features of irony and sarcasm are used to reveal the hypocrisy of the middle class before February 1948, schizophrenic, dehumanised society of the period which followed, as well as the meretricious nature of the members of the community of emigrants. In spite of the fact that the analysed text has only been of marginal importance so far, it provides a lot of evidence of the authorВ’s language mastery and his ability to penetrate to the heart of the matter. This work has not yet evoked as much readership as it deserves, and the presented analysis will, among other things, try to find an answer to the question why this is so.

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