Diary of 1835 (Mácha)

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The Diary (often referred to as the Secret Diary or Cipher Diary) was written in 1835 by Karel Hynek Mácha, the best-known Czech romantic poet. After deciphering of the parts recorded in code, there was a discussion of the decision to publish the author's private affairs.

Karel Hynek Mácha Czech poet, traveller, playwright, lawyer and writer

Karel Hynek Mácha was a Czech romantic poet.

Poet person who writes and publishes poetry

A poet is a person who creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be a writer of poetry, or may perform their art to an audience.

Contents

Contents

Ten pages of the manuscript contain 29 records from 16 September to 18 November 1835 (five more records were rewritten by Karel Sabina and so it is likely that the manuscript is just a fragment) [1] and deal with varied topics: everyday life, theatre, Prague in the time of the visit of Emperor Ferdinand and Tsar Nicholas, and the psychological background of Mácha's masterpieces Máj and Cikáni ; [2] the cipher parts treat the poet's intimate relationship to Eleonora Šomková revealing his possessiveness and jealousy. [3]

Ferdinand I of Austria Austrian emperor, king of Hungary and Bohemia

Ferdinand I was the Emperor of Austria from 1835 until his abdication in 1848. As ruler of Austria, he was also President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, King of Lombardy–Venetia and holder of many other lesser titles.

Nicholas I of Russia Emperor of Russia

Nicholas I reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He has become best known as a political conservative whose reign was marked by geographical expansion, repression of dissent, economic stagnation, poor administrative policies, a corrupt bureaucracy, and frequent wars that culminated in Russia's defeat in the Crimean War of 1853–56. His biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky says that Nicholas displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. He saw himself as a soldier—a junior officer totally consumed by spit and polish. A handsome man, he was highly nervous and aggressive. Trained as an engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail. In his public persona, says Riasanovsky, "Nicholas I came to represent autocracy personified: infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate." His reign had an ideology called "Official Nationality" - proclaimed officially in 1833. It was a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and Russian nationalism. He was the younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas inherited his brother's throne despite the failed Decembrist revolt against him and went on to become the most reactionary of all Russian leaders. His aggressive foreign policy involved many expensive wars, having a disastrous effect on the empire's finances.

<i>Máj</i> poem by Karel Hynek Mácha

Máj is a romantic poem by Karel Hynek Mácha in four cantos. It was fiercely criticized when first published, but since then has gained the status of one of the most prominent works of Czech literature; in the Czech Republic, the poem now is memorized by schoolchildren and continuously in print.

Deciphering

The cipher was first decoded by Jakub Arbes, who borrowed two pages from Umělecká Beseda institute in 1884 and published his results in Rozhledy literární magazine in 1886. 38 different ciphers were used 4,421 times altogether in the extant manuscript. [1] The cipher was complicated by using both Czech and German language, and writing every second line from right to left. [1]

Jakub Arbes Czech theater reviewer, publicist, bookwriter and writer

Jakub Arbes was a Czech writer and intellectual. He is best known as the creator of the literary genre called romanetto and spent much of his professional life in France.

Controversy and publishing

Jakub Arbes was the first to read the text of the cipher passages and to recommend not publishing all of it, because "some parts concerning most delicate matters are not advisable to be published". [1] The question of publishing was opened on the occasion of the celebration of the poet's centenary in 1936. A group of surrealists and linguists (Roman Jakobson, Karel Teige, Vítězslav Nezval, and Bohuslav Brouk) argued against the poet's false cult and for publishing the secret parts of the diary. [1] The complete text was not published until the 1970s (but not officially in Czechoslovakia), and it was widely distributed in the 1980s. [1] The correctly decoded and critically analysed text was first published in 2007. [1]

Roman Jakobson American linguist, philosopher and educationist

Roman Osipovich Jakobson was a Russian linguist and literary theorist.

Karel Teige Czech photographer, literature reviewer, literary theorist, translator, typographer and science writer

Karel Teige was a Czech modernist avant-garde artist, writer, critic and one of the most important figures of the 1920s and 1930s movement. He was a member of the Devětsil (Butterbur) movement in the 1920s and also worked as an editor and graphic designer for Devětsil's monthly magazine ReD. One of his major works on architecture theory is The Minimum Dwelling (1932).

Vítězslav Nezval Czech poet, writer and translator

Vítězslav Nezval was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the twentieth century and a co-founder of the Surrealist movement in Czechoslovakia.

Context

In 1986 Pushkin's Secret Journal 1836–1837 was published which has very erotic contents.

At the end of the 19th century, Journal Intime by Benjamin Constant was first published.

Benjamin Constant Swiss-born French politician, writer on politics and religion

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss-French political activist and writer on politics and religion. He was the author of a partly biographical psychological novel, Adolphe. He was a fervent liberal of the early 19th century, who influenced the Trienio Liberal movement in Spain, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, the Greek War of Independence, the November Uprising in Poland, the Belgian Revolution, and liberalism in Brazil and Mexico.

Related Research Articles

Czech literature

Czech literature is the literature written in the Czech language. The earliest literary works written in Czech date to the 14th century. Modern literature may be divided into the periods of national awakening in the 19th century; the avant-garde of the interwar period (1918-39); the years under Communism and the Prague Spring (1948-90); and the literature of the post-Communist Czech Republic (1992-present).

Jan Neruda Czech poet, theater reviewer, publicist, journalist and writer

Jan Nepomuk Neruda was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the "May School".

Vyšehrad Cemetery

Established in 1869 on the grounds of Vyšehrad Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, the Vyšehrad cemetery is the final resting place of many composers, artists, sculptors, writers, and those from the world of science and politics. The centerpiece of the cemetery is the Slavín tomb designed by Antonín Wiehl, a large and notable tomb located within Vyšehrad cemetery.

Konstantin Biebl Czech poet

Konstantin Biebl was a Czech poet and writer. His first collection of poems was released in 1923, and his last in 1951, the year of his death by suicide. During that time he also travelled widely as a reporter. Biebl was a member of the Communist Party, and was closely associated with other Czech Communist writers and poets including Jiří Wolker and Vítězslav Nezval.

Josef Hora Czech poet, literary theorist, politic writer and translator

Josef Hora was a Czech poet.

Iša František Krejčí was a Czech neoclassicist composer, conductor and dramaturge.

Viktor Oliva Czech illustrator and painter

Viktor Oliva was a Czech painter and illustrator.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Karel Sabina Czech poet, theater reviewer, playwright, essayist, philosopher, librettist, literature historian, literary critic, publicist, translator, bookwriter and writer

Karel Sabina was a Czech writer and journalist.

The Májovci were a significant group of Czech novelists and poets of the second half of the 19th century, who were inspired by the work of Karel Hynek Mácha, Karel Havlíček Borovský and Karel Jaromír Erben.

Cikáni is an 1835 novel written by Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha with typical tokens of Romanticism: old castles, night scenery and a romantic complicated plot. It is Mácha's only completed novel.

Eleonora Šomková Czech poet

Eleonora Šomková was the fiancée of Karel Hynek Mácha. The poet died two days before their intended wedding. Intimate details of their relationship were revealed by deciphering Mácha's Diary of 1835.

Diary of Journey to Italy is a travel book by Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha, which was likely not meant to be published.

Máj (literary almanac)

Máj was a Czech literary almanac published by a group of authors centred around Jan Neruda and Vítězslav Hálek.

STUHA was an alternative, independent student movement in the late phase of the Czechoslovak Communist régime. It was gradually formed by Prague students in the late spring and early summer of 1989. The movement was the catalyst that mobilized the university students, later culminating in the demonstration and march at Albertov, Prague, and then on to the city centre, on 17 November 1989.

Národní listy was a Czech newspaper published in Prague from 1861 to 1941.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pavel Vašák: Šifrovaný deník Karla Hynka Mácha, Prague,2007, ISBN   978-80-7304-083-3, pp.11–12, 16, 18–19
  2. ↑ Karel Hynek Mácha: Deníky. Zápisníky. Korespondence. Prague 1929, pp. 399–401
  3. ↑ Dr. Albert Pražák: Karel Hynek Mácha, Prague 1936, p. 144
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