Česká literaturačasopis pro literární vědu

Datum publikování: 11.2025

Autor: Češka, Jakub

Abstrakt: In this study, I describe my own discovery of Čapek’s source of inspiration for the novel Hordubal in a series of court reports from Lidové noviny in April 1932. The reports from April 21 to April 25, 1932, provide information on the first-instance court proceedings in the case of the murder of Jiří Hardubej. The court reports that have been discovered serve as a crucial aid in our understanding of Čapek’s character as a writer, primarily because they significantly tally both as thematic, and to some extent, narrative elements. A court report with the same title, albeit of a later date (October 14, 1932, authored by Bedřich Golombek), was hitherto considered to be Čapek’s inspiration. Not only was it significantly shorter than the newly discovered April court reports, but above all it represented a thematically and emotionally inverted world to that of Čapek’s Hordubal. However, this is not the case with the April court reports. Hence in the subsequent thematic and narrative analysis, I confront Čapek’s creative gesture with its source of inspiration, particularly because it exhibits surprisingly many similarities.

Rozsah stran: s. 575–603

Status recenzování: recenzovaný článek

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND