Reception of Czech literature in Poland after 1993 – texts, participants, institutions

Summary: Czech literature has attracted a relatively large interest of Polish readers for several decades, but due to the huge popularity of authors such as Bohumil Hrabal or Jaroslav Hašek – and superficial reading of their works – it has become charged by stereotypes, myths and legends. Therefore, Czech texts that did not fit into the established image of Czech literature for a long time were rejected by the publishers or ignored by readers. However, after 2010 young publishers and translators appeared, who, despite the difficulties, decided to present new Czech authors on Polish book market. This text describes these changes, presents them in the form of numbers and graphs and identifies opportunities and challenges associated with them. It is also an attempt to briefly describe the field of Czech literature in Poland in marketing, media and institutional perspective and presents the most important persons and institutions promoting Czech literature in Poland in recent years.

Keywords: Czech literature, reception of Czech literature, Poland, book market, Polish book market, translators, publishers