with Bohumil Fořt (Institute for Czech Literature of Czech Academy of Science), Ondřej Sládek (Institute for Czech Literature of Czech Academy of Science), Martina Mecco (MODERNITAS), Cristian Cámara Outes (MODERNITAS)

On the occasion of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Prague Linguistic Circle in 1926, MODERNITAS organises a scientific afternoon dedicated to this pivotal movement that has profoundly shaped the landscape of literary studies and the humanities.

In this event we will explore the seminal contributions of Czech structuralism both in its historical significance and its persistent, manifold resonance in contemporary research. The pioneering work of the authors included in the Prague Linguistic Circle was based on an articulation of a variety of previous ideas and theoretical systems from outside Czechoslovakia as well as from the local tradition and was significantly enriched by the artistic and cultural blossoming of interwar Prague. Within this unique historical and theoretical context, the structuralist authors developed an original, dialectical, semiotic and intermedial approach to the linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena broadly conceived, which apprehended them in their intrinsic dynamism and their openness to sociological and historical dimensions.

In this event we will welcome the participation of Bohumil Fořt (Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences), Ondřej Sládek (Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences), Cristian Cámara Outes (MODERNITAS), and Martina Mecco (MODERNITAS). Their papers will focus on the continuities and transformations of this literary-theoretical phenomenon and its key figures, including Vilém Mathesius, Jan Mukařovský, Roman Jakobson, Felix Vodička, Lubomír Doležel, Květoslav Chvatík, Miroslav Červenka, Milan Jankovič and others, who played a crucial role in establishing Czech structuralism and in the subsequent evolution of the structuralist paradigm, as well as its integration with other methodological and theoretical frameworks. We aim to examine the fruitful connections between Czech structuralism and modern theoretical frameworks, including poststructuralism, cognitive poetics, narratology, semiotics, transnational comparativism, or translation theory, among many others. We intend not only to chart the historical trajectory of Czech structuralism, but also to discuss its potential to inspire future research and to consider its significance as a methodological framework for investigating the ever-changing dynamics of literature and culture in the twenty-first century.

How (post)modern is Czech Structuralism?
Ondřej Sládek
The origins and development of Czech structuralism are inextricably linked to the scholarly activities of the Prague Linguistic Circle, founded nearly a century ago in 1926. The Circle and its primary method, functional-structural analysis, are often regarded as products of a modern approach to scholarly inquiry. This modernity is evident in the Circle’s innovative methodology, which was conceived through a collective research program. Additionally, the involvement of some Circle members with the avant-garde movement played a significant role in shaping its intellectual trajectory. Roman Jakobson even referred to the Circle and Czech structuralism as an “avant-garde science.”
Now, a century after the emergence of this scholarly project, we are in a position to ask: Is Czech structuralism still relevant? Is it merely a historical methodology rooted in modernism, or does it continue to offer valuable insights? How does Czech structuralism relate to both modernism and postmodernism? More broadly, what role does it play in contemporary literary criticism and theory?

Fictional Worlds Theory between Structuralism and Poststructuralism
Bohumil Fořt
Fictional Worlds Theory (FWT) is widely recognized as part of postclassical narratology. However, beyond the classical-postclassical narratological framework, FWT can also be situated along the structuralism-poststructuralism spectrum. Notably, FWT exhibits clear influences from both paradigms: it is firmly grounded in the structuralist intellectual and methodological tradition while simultaneously emerging from poststructuralist (and postmodernist) critiques of these foundations and explorations of alternative approaches. This paper examines the key intellectual sources that have shaped FWT, seeking to position them within the nuanced and often ambiguous interplay between structuralist and poststructuralist paradigms.

The Prague Linguistic Circle in the interwar periodicals: some remarks
Martina Mecco
Before the journal Slovo a slovesnost was founded in 1935, the Prague Linguistic Circle (PLK) did not have its own journal. In fact, it lacked a platform where its members could share the development of their activities. The Czech press of the interwar period has the peculiarity of being situated in a liminal position between the academic and literary contexts. The figure of the journalist, moreover, instead of specialising was increasingly moving towards hybridisation. The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between the Czech press and the development of the PLK between 1925 and 1939. An analysis of the relationship between the members of the PLK and some of the leading journals will be followed by some reflections on the birth of Slovo a slovesnost, focusing on the role played by exponents of interwar Czech press (e.g. Pavel Eisner or Antonín Stanislav Mágr) and the reception of the first issue of the journal, e.g. the critical attitude of Nikolaj Trubeckoj.

Untranslatability and “transformative influence” in the article “On the New Edition of K. Čapek's Modern French Poetry” (1936) by Jan Mukařovský
Cristian Cámara Outes
The notion of untranslatability appears frequently in the texts of the first period of Czech functional structuralism, from 1926 to 1948. According to the particular dynamic and systematic perspective observed by the authors of the Prague Circle, any text is always and in any case untranslatable, because it is impossible to transpose the set of functional interactions and correlations in which the original was imbricated in its original context. Indeed, untranslatability in one way or another has historically always haunted any theory of translation. However, it would be possible to make a certain demarcation on the basis of the way in which the different historical doctrines on translation have positioned themselves with regard to the fact of untranslatability. During the classical period and also the linguistic paradigm of the second half of the 20th Century, the fact of essential inter- or intralinguistic untranslatability was either denied or experienced as some kind of tragical loss. (J. Catford, R. Jakobson, E. Nida, or P. Newmark). From the so-called cultural turn of translation studies, a shift occurred whereby untranslatability came to be considered as a zone of emergence of creativity and generation of innovations, that is, it changed its meaning and acquired a positive coloration (For example: “Third space”, H. Bhabha). In this paper I will try to claim that Czech translation theory, and in particular that of Mukařovský, is a valuable forerunner of this last understanding, and one that would deserve more scholarly attention.

Thuesday 11th March 2025, from 2 pm to 6 pm

Salle de réception
Bâtiment De1 - Niveau 3 - Salle R.3.105
Avenue Antoine Depage 1
1000 Bruxelles

Free entrance