Czech Literature After 1948 in Focus as Czechia Becomes Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour

Czech literature after 1948 is examined through the lens of its myths and its distinctive blend of irony and seriousness, as Czechia takes on the role of Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair's guest role brings an unexpectedly wide range of new publications to international attention. The article's title invokes the writer Bohumil Hrabal, suggesting that loud, roaring laughter heard in the street could only have come from him, a reference to the writer's larger-than-life presence in Czech cultural memory. The piece frames Czechia less as a country than as a state of mind — ironic and earnest at the same time. Among the literatures of the former communist countries, the Czech tradition is described as living more than any other from its own myths. The Frankfurt Book Fair appearance is presented as an opportunity to showcase the surprising diversity of recent Czech releases. The text is published by the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung in its feuilleton section.