The Family as the Basic Value of Life in the Novel “The Body” by Fráňa Šrámek

Abstract

The article discusses the history of the perception of Fráňa Šrámek's novel “The Body” by critics and readers from the moment of its publication in 1919 to the 1990s of the twentieth century. The image of the heroine created by Šrámek differed from the type of “new woman” common in European literature of the first decades of the twentieth century. In this regard, the main theme of the novel was considered to be the glorification of simple joys, sensual love and the union of a man and a woman based on it, as opposed to war, which kills both joy and love. Critics noted the typification of the characters' images, the symbolic encounter of the masculine and feminine principles, at the intersection of which the truth and meaning of life are manifested, as well as the impressionistic means of artistic expression characteristic of Šrámek's work. This article offers a different view of the novel. There is every reason to view not just the glorification of love and the union of masculine and feminine principles, but the creation of a family and the long journey that a husband and wife must go to become a family as the main theme of the novel. The article examines what exactly Fráňa Šrámek puts into the concept of “family”, and how much his understanding of family coincides with the generally accepted one. The article shows how the architectonics of the novel and the system of characters serve to reveal the theme. Focus was also on the place and role of the so-called “plug-in stories”, stories of minor characters, seemingly not directly related to the movement of the plot. From the point of view of the reader of the XXI century, the undoubted advantage of the novel is the impressionistic style of Fráňa Šrámek: thanks to it, where modern authors often resort to deliberately rude physiology, Šrámek remains an artist and a poet. The article also emphasizes the relevance that the novel acquires nowadays, when the problems of family life and demography become urgent for both Russia and Europe.

Received 6 April 2024

Revised 16 April 2024

Accepted 3 May 2024

For citation: Kravchenko, T.Iu., 2024. The family as the basic value of life in the novel “The Body” by Fráňa Šrámek. Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 19 (1–2), pp. 92–104. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2024.19.1-2.06