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This section discusses the state of formalism and early structuralism from 1914 to 1960. In the first half of the 20th century, Russian and Czech literary theorists worked to develop a theory of literariness. The initiative involves the question about what made literary texts different from, for instance, government reports or newspaper articles. In trying to answer this question they focused on the formal aspects of literature, on its specific forms and on the sort of language that it employs. The so-called Russian Formalists suggested that literature distinguishes itself from non-literary language because it employs a whole range of devices that have a de-familiarizing effect. In a later stage, they saw this principle of de-familiarization also as a moving force within literary history. Literature, as an artistic discipline, renews itself by making itself strange again whenever its current forms have become overly familiar and a sort of automatization has set in. Because unfamiliarity is not an inherent quality but depends on contrast, with what is known and has become routine, the emphasis within Formalism soon shifts towards the function of devices, rather than on any innate qualities they might possess. Central to that function is the idea of difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a definition of the term CZECH POETRY. The earliest extant verse in the C. vernacular is a hymn dating from the late 12th or early 13th c. addressed to the patron saint of Bohemia, Václav ("Good King Wenceslaus"). But the 14th c. saw a great flowering of C. p., epic, lyric, and dramatic. Outstanding are an epic about Alexander of Macedon and numerous versified saints' lives, in particular a Life of St. Catherine of Alexandria noted for the brilliance of its imagery.

The article presents a profile of Czech poet Miroslav Holub. Topics covered include the characteristics of his poetry such as a sophisticated detachment which allows him to explore historical questions, the sardonic humor he brought to questions of totalitarianism and oppression and his investigation of the world's ironies with courage. A selection of books dedicated to Holub is also presented.