This article focuses on the early post-1989 period when the ''Slovak question'' returned with full force to the gradually democratizing political arena and surprised Czech society and its budding political elite, who were both unprepared to address the question. The author reveals the imbalance of ''Czechoslovakism'' - its story and historical lesson - between the two sides of the once united country. In Slovakia, Czechoslovakism was ''part of the living language of politics and journalism of the Slovak experience,'' whilst in Czech society, its reception was lukewarm and superfi cial. Thanks to his insight into federal and republican politics in the early days of democratic revival, the author presents his readers with a fascinating breakdown of the factual-historic presence of Czechoslovakism at a time when its word-historical presence was minimal. He analyzes how Slovakia stepped into democracy by exercising its national sovereignty in federal structures and played as active a role as ever in Czech-Slovak relations. Meanwhile, the Czech side remained merely reactive. In contrast to the Slovak scene, Czechs were engaged in a ''politics of returns,'' buttressed by a resolutely idealized image of the First Republic and a renewed spirit of ''Czechoslovakness,'' which was deceptively refreshing for Czech society. These were two political worlds, able to fi nd a common denominator only with great effort. The author explains that Czech politics were de facto forced - by the Slovaks, who were developing federal principles and creating policies for national sovereignty - into lackluster policy-making of their own national sovereignty. Even so, these forced politics had their advocates, such as national-socialist politicians in the Czech National Council at that time. and Překlad Tereza Jonášová a Kathleen Geaney
Štúdia približuje názory na česko-slovenskú vzájomnosť slovenského realistického spisovateľa Jána Čajaka (1863–1944), v ktorých sa odzrkadľuje snaha dolnozemského zaznávaného autora nepretrhnúť väzby so slovenským a českým kultúrnym prostredím. Čajak zastával stanovisko, že Slováci a Česi sa v danom geopolitickom priestore Európy so silnejúcimi nacionalistickými tendenciami udržia len pestovaním a zveľaďovaním česko-slovenskej vzájomnosti. Vzájomnosť vnímal ako národnú jednotu – kultúrnu, osvetovú a hospodársku spoluprácu dvoch bratských národov. V otázke jazyka sa priklonil k zástancom Štúrovej jazykovej "odluky", a to z ideových a pragmatických dôvodov, aj pod vplyvom hlasistickej ideológie. Nevylučoval však možnosť jazykového zblíženia, resp. splynutia v budúcnosti, hoci sa mu to zdalo nemožné. and This study illustrates the image of the Czech-Slovak relation by a Slovak realism writer Ján Čajak (1863–1944), reflecting the strength of the 'Low land' author, who did not cut the strings with the Slovak and Czech cultures. He believed that in given geopolitical space in Europe, with the growing nationalistic tendencies, Czechs and Slovaks could survive only by cherishing and strengthening their mutual relations. Čajak observed the relations as a national unity – cultural, educational and economic cooperation of two peoples. In terms of the languages, he supported the representatives of Štúr's linguistic 'decision' for both ideological and pragmatic reasons, and under the influence of a vocal ideology. Although it seemed impossible, Čajak did not reject the idea of languages becoming closer, i.e. integrated in future.
Studie se zabývá dílem českého literárního historika Jana Menšíka (1886-1949) a jeho vztahem k slovenské literatuře. Menšík jako žák J. Vlčka patřil k pozitivistické generaci a po roce 1918 se soustředil na slovenskou literaturu v období 1880-1920. Jeho historický přehled Črty zo slovenskej literatúry (1920) synteticky zmapovaly tvorbu P. O. Hviezdoslava, S. H. Vajanského a M. Kukučína. Na rozdíl od přehledu Š. Krčméryho Prehľad dejín slovenskej literatúry a vzdelanosti (1920) Menšík více přihlíží k českým souvislostem, nevyhýbá se estetickému hodnocení. Zásluha J. Menšíka je také v literární didaktice, v koncipování slovenských čítanek a Slovenské poetiky (1921, společně s P. Bujnákem). and The paper deals with the works of Jan Menšík (1886-1949), the Czech literary historian, focusing on his relation to Slovak literature. As a disciple of J. Vlček, Menšík belonged to the positivist generation and after 1918 he concentrated on the Slovak literature between 1880 and 1920. His historical survey Črty zo slovenskej literatúry [Sketches of Slovak Literature] (1920) offered a synthetic overview of the works by P. O. Hviezdoslav, S. H. Vajanský and M. Kukučín. In contrast to S. Krčméry's Prehľad dejín slovenskej literatúry a vzdelanosti [A Historical Outline of Slovak Literature and Civilisation] (1920), Menšík is more inclined to consider the Czech context and does not avoid aesthetic evaluation. J. Menšík also takes credit for his contribution to the methodology of teaching literature, as he compiled Slovak primary readers and Slovak poetics (1921, in collaboration with P. Bujnák).
Štúdia približuje menej známu kapitolu z dejín českej literárnovednej slovakistiky a zaoberá sa recepciou slovenského básnika Martina Rázusa v českom prostredí v rámci dobového formovania rozporuplného česko-slovenského kontextu po roku 1918. Využíva doteraz nepublikovaný archívny materiál a analyzuje niektoré momenty vzťahu českých slovakistov J. Vlčka, A. Pražáka, F. Kleinschnitzovej a ď. k tomuto autorovi, ktorý sa v dvadsiatych rokoch odklonil od manifestácie kultúrnej jednoty ku kritike centralistického čechoslovakizmu a k autonomistickým požiadavkám. "Pokus" získať tohto národne orientovaného básnika-kňaza, chápaného ako medzičlánok medzi poéziou P. O. Hviezdoslava, slovenských symbolistov a davistickej generácie, pre podporu československej kultúrnej politiky sa v medzivojnovom období nepodaril. and The study draws an attention to the lesser-known chapter of the history of Czech literary science and Slovakistics – it presents the reception of a Slovak poet Martin Rázus in the Czech environment whilst the controversial Czech-Slovak context after 1918 was being formed. Using previously unpublished archival material, it analyzes several stages of the relationship between Czech Slovakists J. Vlček, A. Pražák, F. Kleinschnitzová etc. and the author, who drifted away from manifesting cultural unity to the criticism of centralized Czechoslovakism and autonomist demands in the 1920s. The attempt "to acquire" this nationally oriented poet-priest, who was considered to be an interface between the poetry of P. O. Hviezdoslav, the Slovak Symbolists and the generation of Davists, to support of Czechoslovak cultural politics in the interwar period was not successful.
The paper focuses on the analysis of wartime Slovak political parties’ views on Slovakia’s status after the World War II. The paper is divided into two main blocks. The first one deals with the shy plans of the Hlinka’s Slovak People’s representatives to maintain Slovak independence on a post-war map. Second one clarifies changing attitudes of resistance and its dialogues with the London and Moscow exile concerning the question of Slovak statehood in the context of expected Czechoslovakia’s rebirth after fall of the Nazi rule and in the very first months of 1945. The authors analyse complicated “behind-curtain” debates, the nature of discourse regarding the face of post-war Slovakia and Slovak question as a serious problem between the Slovak political opposition, Beneš’ exile government in London and communist exile in Moscow that shaped Czechoslovak internal policy even after liberation in May 1945.