Abstract

VITAčKOVA, Martina. In search of adventure: Ladislav Mikeš Pařízek, a Czech in the Congo. Tydskr. letterkd. [online]. 2009, vol.46, n.1, pp.167-178. ISSN 2309-9070.

Ladislav Mikeš Pařízek's books, articles and lectures had a large impact on the image of the Congo as it existed in communist Czechoslovakia from the 1940s till the 1970s, but this Czech traveller and writer has almost been forgotten. Through an analysis of his works and of reviews of these works published in newspapers of the 1950s, the nature of the African discourse as it was created in communist Eastern Europe, as well as the (mis)use of this discourse by the ruling party, is revealed. Special attention will be paid to the illustrations accompanying his books, articles and lectures.

Keywords : Czech literature; Belgian Congo; colonialism; communism; the Other; Ladislav Mikeš Pařízek.

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