"Luxembourg, thou art a photophobic bat, a squinting owl with ears too long". Struggle for the heritage of the Luxembourg dynasty seen by the "author of farce and amusement" Michault Taillevent.
The struggle between Eliška Krásnohorská (1847–1926) and the proponentsof the monthly Lumír, including Josef Václav Sládek (1845–1912) and JaroslavVrchlický (1853–1912), clearly reflects the situation amongst Czech critics and ofKrásnohorská herself in late 1870s and early 1880s. By considering Krásnohorská’sefforts, the article seeks to examine the well-known dispute, which took place inthe periodicals of the times, in associations of artists like the Umělecká beseda, at private meetings, and of course in private correspondence. The bone of contentionwas the nature of criticism, the new aesthetics, and the power of literature.Among other things, this had a suppressed gender aspect, since it had to do witha woman’s right to be a critic, though her position was advantageously supportedby nationalist patriotic interests. Lastly, it is noted that the Lumír proponents’dispute overlapped with the initial difficultly Realism had making its way intoCzech literature.
"Luther is like a white swan, and in that swan resides the goose's uncharred strength... The goose has been cooked, but not the swan, which will sing forever".