The Good Soldier Švejk
| The Good Soldier Švejk | |
| Author | Jaroslav Hašek |
|---|---|
| Original title | 'Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války' |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
| Genre(s) | Satirical Novel |
| Publisher | A. Synek Publishers |
| Publication date | 1923 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
The Good Soldier Švejk (spelled Schweik or Schwejk in many translations, and pronounced [ˈʃvɛjk] or "shveyk" in plain English transcription) is the shortened title of an unfinished satirical novel by Jaroslav Hašek. It was fully illustrated by Josef Lada after Hašek's death. The original Czech title of the work is Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války, literally The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War.
Hašek originally intended Švejk to cover a total of six volumes, but had only completed four (which are now usually merged into one book) upon his death from tuberculosis in 1923.
Contents |
Selected characters
Josef Švejk
Palivec, a pub landlord
Bretschneider, a secret policeman
Chaplain Otto Katz
Lieutenant Lukaš
Captain Sagner
Colonel Schröder
Jurajda, a spiritualist cook
2nd Lieutenant Dub, a pompous schoolmaster in civilian life
Quartermaster Sergeant-Major Vaněk
Volunteer Marek
Vodička, a sapper friend of Švejk who hates Hungarians
Cadet Biegler, an upper class twit
Baloun, a glutton, Švejk's successor as Lukaš's batman
Plot summary
The novel tells the story of the Czech veteran Josef Švejk and his adventures in the army. The story begins in Prague with news of the assassination in Sarajevo that precipitates World War I. Švejk is so enthusiastic about faithfully serving the Austrian Emperor that no one can decide whether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermining the Austro-Hungarian Army's war effort. However, he is arrested by a member of the secret police after making some politically sensitive remarks, and he is sent to prison. Švejk is then sent to a madhouse, before being finally released. He then gets his charwoman to wheel him (he is suffering from rheumatism) to the recruitment offices in Prague. Unfortunately, Švejk is sent to a hospital for malingerers because of his rheumatism. He is then finally sent to the army as batman for army chaplain Otto Katz, who loses him at cards to Lieutenant Lukaš, whose batman he then becomes. Lukaš is then posted with his march battalion to barracks in České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia preparatory to being sent to the front. However Švejk misses the train taking Lukaš there, and also misses all the other trains to Budějovice after staying at the station for too long. He then embarks on a long anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia in a vain attempt to find Budějovice. Eventually he is arrested as a deserter (a charge he strenuously denies) and escorted to his regiment. He is then promoted to company orderly.
The unit then embarks on a long train journey towards the Eastern Front. Stopping in a Hungarian border town, he is again arrested, this time for causing an affray involving a respectable Hungarian citizen and engaging in a street fight. Before reaching the front line, he is taken prisoner by his own side as a suspected Russian deserter, after arriving at a lake and trying on an abandoned Russian uniform. Afterwards, he manages to rejoin his side. The unfinished novel breaks off abruptly before Švejk has a chance to be involved in any combat or enter the trenches.
The book also includes a large number of anecdotes told by Švejk, which are not directly related to the plot.
Literary significance and criticism
A number of literary critics consider The Good Soldier Švejk to be one of the first anti-war novels, predating Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Furthermore, Joseph Heller claimed that, had he not read The Good Soldier Švejk, he would never have written his novel Catch-22.[1][2]
Broader cultural influence
The idiocy/subversion of Švejk has entered the Czech language in the form of words of švejkovina ("švejking"), švejkovat ("to švejk"), švejkárna (military absurdity), etc.[3]
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
The novel is set during World War I in Austria-Hungary. This multi-ethnic empire was full of long-standing grievances and tensions. World War I, amplified by modern weapons and techniques, quickly escalated to become a massive human meatgrinder. Fifteen million people died, one million of them Austrian soldiers. Jaroslav Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in The Good Soldier Švejk.
The German-speaking Habsburgs and their imperial administrators had ruled the Czech Lands from 1526. By the arrival of the 20th century, Prague, the seat of the Czech Kingdom, had become a boomtown. Large numbers of people had come to the city from the countryside to participate in the industrial revolution. The rise of a large working class spawned a cultural revolution. The Austro-Hungarian Empire ignored these changes and became more and more decrepit and anachronistic. As the system decayed, it became absurd and irrelevant to ordinary people. When forced to respond to dissent, the imperial powers did so, more often than not, with hollow propaganda and repression.
Adaptations
- The Czech animator Jiří Trnka adapted the novel as an animated film in 1955, including Jan Werich starring as a narrator.
- Czech director Karel Steklý filmed the adventures in two films in 1956 and 1957, starring Rudolf Hrušínský as Švejk.
- In West Germany the book was newly adapted in the 1960s, starring Heinz Rühmann.
- A 13-part TV series in German, Die Abenteuer des braven Soldaten Schwejk, directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, was made and broadcast by the Austrian state TV (ORF) in 1972. The title role was played by Fritz Muliar.
- Czechoslovakian puppetoon version "Osudy dobrého vojáka Svejka" (1986)[4]
- In November 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcasted a two-part radio adaptation starring Sam Kelly [5].
The Good Soldier Švejk inspired Bertolt Brecht to write a play continuing his adventures in World War II. It was aptly titled Schweik in the Second World War.
Švejk became the subject of comic books, films, an opera, a musical, statues, and the theme of many restaurants in a number of European countries.
Arthur Koestler worked on an uncompleted sequel called The Good Soldier Schweik Goes to War Again.
- Robert Kurka wrote an opera based on the novel, first performed in 1958.
- The Harry Harrison science fiction series 'Bill, the Galactic Hero' is a retelling of the Švejk story updated to a future galactic war
Translations and adaptations
Three major English-language translations of Švejk have been published:
- The Good Soldier Schweik, tr. Paul Selver, 1930.
- The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, tr. Cecil Parrott, 1973; reprints: ISBN 0140182748 & ISBN 978-0140449914.
- The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk During the World War, Book One: tr. Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadlon and Emmett Joyce, (1997 E-book; 2000 paperback, ISBN 978-1585004287), Book Two: tr. Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadlon 2005 (E-book),[6] Books 3 & 4 (E-book).[7]
The first translation does not give a full impression of Hašek's original. Whole passages are missing (such as the famous imaginary animals passage on the Animal World Magazine, and the whole of Volume 4 after Švejk's capture as a Russian), various passages are bowdlerised, and the style is somewhat stifling and unimaginative, contrary to the language used by Hašek. Succeeding translations are generally perceived as evolving from good to better.
There is also an orchestral suite The Good Soldier Overture and an opera The Good Soldier Schweik, both for wind ensemble, written by Robert Kurka, as well as a stage adaptation, Svejk, by Colin Teevan.
See also
- Czech literature
- Ivan Chonkin, a Soviet Švejk
- Mandel Karlsson
References
- ↑ "A personal testimony by Arnošt Lustig". Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ↑ Lustig, Arnošt (2003) (in Czech). 3x18 (portréty a postřehy). Nakladatelství Andrej Šťastný. pp. 271. ISBN 80-903116-8-7.
- ↑ Červinková, Hana (2004). "Time to Waste". The Journal of Power Institutions In Post-Soviet Societies 1. http://www.pipss.org/document236.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ↑ "Osudy dobrého vojáka Svejka (1986)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ↑ http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/leisure/3831036.TV_star_Sam_Kelly_plays_a_central_role_in_new_BBC_Radio_4_play/
- ↑ "e-BOOK TWO OF ŠVEJK IS HERE" (2005-12-16). Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ↑ "e-BOOK(s) THREE&FOUR OF ŠVEJK IS HERE" (2008-01-26). Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
