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PAVEL SRUT AND HIS MR NOVAK AS A SAMPLE OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN CHARACTER

Martin Pilar

Abstract

Pavel Srut (1940-2018) was a representative of a young generation of poets in the golden 1960s. After the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops (1968), he stayed in Czechoslovakia but could only publish in samizdat and exile. During the period of strict neo-Stalinist censorship (1969-1989), Srut continued to write, more for himself and for a vaguely anticipated future readership. He followed the tradition of the Central European absurdity, which we know from the work of Franz Kafka. One of the highlights of Srut’s poetic work is considered to be his last published collection, Paper Shoes (2001). The character of Mr N. is called Mr Novak for a while. Even his resemblance to Newton and Noah is mentioned. Sometimes he is a kind of Mr Nobody (or Mr No Name), a strange being without a surname or identity who manages to survive the absurdity of Central European history by existing but, at the same time, living in a way that is not worth mentioning. Translations of Pavel Srut’s poems appeared individually in several European journals. A selection of his late poetry was published in the US in 2009 (including the collection Paper Shoes). It seems to be an example of regionally and historically grounded Central European poetry that has a chance of reaching a broad global audience.

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