The problems of modernism in Slovak literature
In the literary output of Slovak Modernist authors the period aesthetic universalities of the
artistic Modernism, roughly dated 1890–1914, were connected with peculiarities of regional,
national literature, traditionally defined by, as well as perceived through the national concept.
As a result of national aspect predominance in the previous perception of literature, the Slovak
cultural environment may have experienced restructuring of values of the period topics, it happened
however, with a the unmistakable granting autonomy to the aesthetic function of literature
and individual creative gesture. Slovak Modernism evinces identifiable thematic resonances
and contextual proximities with the contemporary European ideological currents and trends.
The follwing authors: Ivan Krasko, Janko Jesenský, Ivan Gall, František Votruba, Ľudmila
Groeblová, Vladimír Roy, Vladimír Hurban-Svetozárov, Vladimír Hurban-Vladimírov, Martin
Rázus, Samo Cambel-Kosorkin, Juraj Slávik-Neresnický abandoned the social-ideological
take on literature and started to emphasize the moment of intimacy and sensitivity of production,
which was perceived as an individual self-expression, an escape from solitude, the act of
confession, and the outcome of a mood and artistic rendition of a unique moment. The starting
point was the feeling of sensual deprivation, failure, disappointment, loss, intellectual distress,
and crisis. The perception of crises became manifest in vacillation between activity and inertia,
harmony and chaos. Revived Romantic poetics with impressionist overtones began to appear
sporadically around 1900 and after 1905 (the year Janko Jesenský’s book of poetry, Verše
/Verses/ was published), it became widespread, with the culmination of its popularity between
1908–1912. At that point, the revived Romanticism and Impressionism took a noticeably Symbolistic
turn. The motifs of decadent stylization became relatively rare. The inclination of late
Symbolism towards the grotesque (grotesque-carnival) in the Slovak context is marked by the
repeated ironic twist characterizing literarytexts and by seeing life as a farce, carnival or fancy
dress ball.

Synthetism – the Basic Idea of the Russian Silver Age
The article is an attempt at complex apprehension of the synthesis concept existing in Russian literature during the Silver Age. At the turn of the 19th century, Russian authors, endeavoured to unite any forms and aspects of human activity, giving a complete – one that was not divided into separate areas, such as science, religion, philosophy, art – image of the world. The paper emphasizes that the synthesis concept, having native religious origin, acquired wide support from religiously oriented Russian thinkers (Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Fyodorov, Andrei Bely, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Pavel Florensky). They perceived the world as marked by God’s element called constitutional unity i.e. a unity bonding truth, goodness and beauty. Following Solovyov, renown artists wished to express the unity of the world by using symbols picturing connection between the visible and the invisible, the accustomed and the mysterious, the reasonable and the unreasonable. The art – especially poetry and music practised by inspired artists, becomes – in imitation of the Richard Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk concept – an important area of cognition unifying both the ethical and aesthetic tasks.

Virginia Woolf and Her Avatars. Creating an Icon and Appropriating the Writer’s Image in Popular Culture and Literature

The act of fictionalising the lives of historical figures, which is the major motivation for this article, has become a common practice and literary phenomenon rather than a short-lived fad. The author analyses several literary works that consciously follow this practice and incorporate Virginia Woolf, an icon and a priestess of Modernism, into the cast of fictional characters. Each writer, representing various tendencies within this practice, creates different avatars – literary representations of Virginia Woolf’s figure which either (partially) correspond or defy the image of this historical figure.
Sigrid Nunez in Mitz, the Marmoset of Bloomsbury – ,,unauthorised biography” – appropriates the Woolfian invention of an animal narrator to fictionalise the Woolfs and their domestic life. Looking through the lenses of such an observer casts a different light on this historical figure as well as on the circle of family and friends who frequent the pages of Mitz. Susan Selers’s Vanessa and Virginia, likewise incorporating elements of a biography, focuses on the symbiotic bond between the Stephen sisters, highlighting their rivalry. In The Hours, Michael Cunningham’s literary endeavour and homage to Woolf’s legacy, the writer aims, through one of the three intertwined narratives, to recreate the last day of Virginia Woolf’s life. The author focuses onher daily writing regime which in turn portrays her as a neurotic figure, obsessed with death and how her work might be received. In Passing for Human and I, Vampire Jody Scott plays with the image of Virginia Woolf ad libitum, customising her vision to an image hardly affiliated to Woolf.
Generically diverse literary works presented in this study create a multifaceted fictionalised portrait of Virginia Woolf that largely corresponds with biographical facts. At the same time, as in case of Cunningham or Scott, it shows abuse and misuse of certain facts in an attempt to fictionally authenticate the life of the real-life figure