The aim of this article is to present a relatively complex linguistic analysis of the three-volume correspondence between Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich (V+W). Focusing on the dialogic structure of these letters, its remarkable coherence and stylistic uniformity, we examine the research possibilities such text types may offer in the field of dialogue stylistics. This highly private correspondence draws attention to the transitions between written and spoken language, fluctuations between using literary and common Czech, as well as a frequent use of vulgarisms, which we interpret as a natural part of the authors’ shared idiolect. Another building block in the stylistic uniformity of the entire correspondence that is worth highlighting is the linguistic playfulness and languagebased humor, including V+W’s fondness for using, manipulating, and commenting on specific set phrases, in which they also intertwine Czech and English. Although English holds a prominent position both in terms of frequency of use and the variety of expressions, the letters actually display features of multi-lingual texts; this quality comes out also in the form of stating the authors’ opinions about Czech (or other languages). The multi-lingual flavor is not far from issues of intertextuality, which manifests itself in the form of a variety of quotations, paraphrases, references, or ad-hoc created fake proverbs. Another part of our analysis concerns V+W’s creativity in word-formation (especially on the part of Voskovec), as well as various grammatical phenomena. In morphology, the texts show a conspicuously high frequency of participles and the archaic short-form adjectives; in syntax, we observe the stylistic function of certain passive constructions, causativization of non-causative verbs, special kinds of ellipsis, and idiosyncratic patterning in marking information structure.
The present study focuses on the intertextual relations between fairy-tale patterns and their artistic adaptations that are in contemporary literary communication and meta-communication denominated apocrypha. The study analyzes and compares the short story anthologies of Přemysl Rut V mámově postýlce(In Mummy’s Bed, 2000) and Květa Legátová Mušle a jiné odposlechy (Shell and Other Eavesdroppings, 2007). Both authors in some of their stories reproduce in specific way the classical adaptations of folklore tales, or better to say components of their typical plotlines. The study shows how the intertextual relations between apocrypha and its fairy-tale prototexts are established and aims to identify the nature of intertextual transformations of the original tale plots, motives and characters. The basic procedure of apocrypha writing is the motivic amplification of the fairy-tale that enters the text either through the quotation or through the basic plotline that is then rewritten anew. The fairy-tale prototext or the general acquaintance with it constitutes the indispensable perceptual background of the apocrypha and upon this background the ironic intertextual game with allegorical or variously actualized meanings is being played. This game “it happened some other way” is focused on adult recipients, something that sets the fairy-tale apocrypha apart from the range of post-modern variants of authorial tales.
Three vernacular texts from late-13th-century Bohemia, in Middle High German and Old Czech, integrate motifs associated with the Holy Land, pilgrimage and the crusades. The romance Wilhalm von Wenden manifests the late Přemyslids’ royal ideology by portraying an independent, pious ruler who derives authority from Jerusalem. The Alexandreis explores the psychology of a military expedition to provide ground for moral reflection and draws on cartography to exploit the symbolism of Jerusalem’s geographic centrality. The crusade-related details in the Legend of Saint James the Less attest to an informed use of intertextual practices.